Better With You
by autumnplants
Summary: After 5 years of being single, Roxas allows his cousin to set him on a blind date. Little does he know that the blind date who arrived almost two hours late, would end up being the love of his life.
1. First Dates

When his cousin, Sora, made the suggestion that going an a blind date would be good for him, Roxas wasn't too keen on the idea. He had been on quite a few blind dates to know that they didn't always work out. Usually the person was too weird, creepy, or an uneven mixture of both.

It also didn't help that Riku made the suggestion to Sora who then mentioned it to Roxas.

Roxas had heard that some of Riku's friends weren't the most reputable and he highly doubted any of them were his type.

There was also the minor detail that Roxas just wasn't sure if he was really ready to date again. Sure, he had ended things with Vanitas almost 3 years ago, but that didn't change his views on starting something with someone new.

Years of abuse would do that to someone.

Roxas had been in the kitchen preparing his lunch for the day when Sora walked in. "Ya know, Roxas, it is just one date. If the guy is a complete creep you can just throw in the towel and not see him again." Sora argued, once again bringing up the idea of a blind date.

Sighing, Roxas shoved his sandwich into a ziploc bag. "Well, when you put it that way, I can't really argue with that." He hated admitting when Sora was right.

"And if it turns out he's not a creep, then cool, you got yourself a new boyfriend."

"I'll think about it." Roxas forced himself not to roll his eyes.

He was still really hesitant about meeting someone without talking to them a little bit first. Even he and Vanitas had a few years of friendship under their belts before a romantic relationship blossomed.

Shaking his head, Roxas blocked out the awful memories. He needed to constantly remind himself that not every person he encountered was like his ex.

Before any final decision could be made, Roxas had to think about his mental health. Would this person Riku was setting him up with respect that he had anxiety and PTSD? Would they respect that he was abused by his ex-boyfriend and understand that it would take time for their relationship to develop?

There was so much weighing on his shoulders. Was he ready to truly start dating? He had thought about the different possibilities of what would happen if he did agree to go on this date and things did work out.

The more he thought about it, the more Roxas leaned more toward yes. He just needed to get out there and do it. Go on the date and stop holding himself back.

Which is why he found himself now at the busy restaurant, waiting to be seated. Sounds of chatter and food being cooked filled the air. Waiters and hosts bustled around tables, passing food and drink to sitting patrons.

Roxas's hair was tamed as much as it would allow, a black dress shirt, black pants, a pair of converse, and then a final touch of a checkered bow tie, courtesy of Sora.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He could feel his heart palpitating with each passing moment (and each passing patron that happened to catch his eye.) he was greeted by the host and lead to a table set for two.

The table itself had two menus placed across from each other and a basket filled condiments; ketchup, tabasco sauce, salt, pepper and those little jelly packs that usually only came in three flavors.

"Would you like some water? Or I could start you off with an appetizer, while you wait?" The waiter who seated him asked.

"Water is fine, thank you."

The waiter nodded and left, returning shortly with Roxas's drink.

Roxas sat playing with the straw wrapper as he waited, heart racing as each good looking patron walked up to his table, disappointment settling into his stomach when they passed instead of stopping.

As it inched closer to an half hour of waiting, Roxas started looking through his various social media sites, liking posts and retweeting things he thought were funny.

He looked through his text messages making sure he had the right place. Knowing his luck, Roxas would end up going to the wrong restaurant.

Thankfully luck was on his side as he confirmed he was in the right place.

The waiter stopped by his table, refilling his drink and asked if he wanted anything to eat while he waited. Roxas denied politely.

It was when the hour mark that Roxas started to get less anxious and anger started to settle in. He wish would've at least given this Axel person his number so if he was late or even had to cancel, Roxas was sitting at the table, looking and feeling like a damn loser.

After bouncing between twitter and tumblr for third time, Roxas leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. He should've brought some of his homework so he had _something _to do as he waited. His phone's battery could only live for so long.

It was getting close to an hour and a half, when Roxas got up to use the restroom. Once he was sitting back at the table, he started looking at the menu, deciding that he had been ultimately stood up.

As he was berating Sora for making him believe that a blind date was a good idea, someone ran up to him, nearly crashing into the table and knocking his water over.

Roxas looked to see a tall, thin, yet filled out red head, with striking green eyes and a face covered in sweat, leaning against the table, trying to catch his breath.

He was wearing a dark burgundy dress shirt, tucked into black skinny jeans. Shiny loafers adorned his feet. His vibrant red hair was long, pulled back into a ponytail and Roxas's eyes landed on the two delicate upside raindrop tattoos on his face. If he wasn't angry with the redhead, he'd probably find them sexy.

He was bent over, inhaling deeply, in an attempt to catch his breath and his hand was massaging here his hip had made contact with the wooden table, which gave Roxas a full view of this person's stretched ear and industrial piercing.

Had he known, Roxas wouldn't have taken his own plugs of for the date.

"Roxas, right?" The man asked finally standing up, his breathing finally starting to stabilize.

"Yeah, you must be Axel?" Roxas questioned dryly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. His date better have a good excuse as to why he was almost _two hours _late.

Being late wouldn't have been such a big deal to him, if Axel would've been able to give him a heads up on his tardiness.

Axel took a seat and rubbed the back of his neck. "I am so sorry that I'm late. Traffic was backed up so much; one of the public transit buses broke down and they had us detour. I really tried to get here earlier, I even took a half lunch so I could leave a half hour early. Riku was telling me about how great you were and I know two hours was a really long time to wait, but I really wanted to meet you. I am so sorry I'm late. Please, let me make it up to you." He pleaded.

Roxas just stared at his water, his lips pursed. His eyes met with Axel's and he sighed, his resolve diminishing with each second that their eyes stayed on eachother. Letting out a sigh, Roxas shifted. "_ Fine _." He agreed

After all Axel wanted to meet _him. _

Axel gave him a nervous smile, feeling Roxas's unfaltering gaze, and grabbed a menu to look at drinks as a waitress walked up.

Deciding to order himself a glass of wine, Axel directed his attention to the food portion of the menu, figuring he should focus on something other than the cute blond in front of him. It was hard for him to read the blond. Was Roxas honestly upset with him? He couldn't blame him, but at the same time, the public transit breaking down was not his fault. He hoped his apology came off sincere enough.

When Riku suggested the blind date, Axel didn't know what to expect but was completely on board. He hadn't really tried seeing anyone since Saix and the idea of dating someone new, after 3 long years, didn't seem so terrifying anymore.

Riku didn't have bad taste in men and when he mentioned it was Sora's cousin, he figured his date couldn't be too bad, considering Sora's big blue eyes and soft, cute, welcoming smile.

And he was right, his date wasn't bad. In fact, Axel thought he was quite the looker. Now if they could get past the awkward silence that blanketed over their table.

Axel looked at the menu, his eyes looking over the top to glance at Roxas, his heart beating in his chest, when sapphire blue eyes locked onto his. He leaned back against his seat trying to get the leather cushion to absorb him.

He felt like such a creep for just watching his date over the menu. As they looked at the menu (and each other) the waiter walked up, asking if he could get them anything to drink to start, which came as a relief to both men. Axel was still beating himself up over being late and Roxas couldn't keep his eyes off his dates tattoos.

Roxas ordered himself a root beer, since he wasn't much of a drinker and licked his lips.

Axel requested a glass of Pinot Noir.

"So…how do you know Riku?" Roxas asked while he tried to concentrate on something other than green eyes.

Axel chuckled before sitting up. "We were college roommates and then we became pretty great friends. After, my ex and I, uh broke up, Riku made the suggestion to move in together helped his avoid the costs of having to pay for room and board and I had a place to live," he explained. "How long have you known him? I know he and Sora were childhood sweethearts." Axel inquired, thanking the waitress as she set their drinks down in front of them.

"Oh, uh, I'm not entirely sure. I think I met him when I was 10? Maybe 11? My pre-teens are kind of a blocked memory. I just remember Sora being really excited that we were practically brothers." Roxas shifted as he sipped on his soda.

Biting his lip, Axel looked at Roxas. "Practically brothers? What does that mean?" He asked as a small chuckle followed.

Roxas looked uncomfortable and Axel internally kicked himself. First date etiquette; don't ask such personal questions. "Do you like Moogle fries?" Axel asked, skimming through the menu to try to change the subject.

"Of course." Roxas replied, nodding his head. If there was one thing in the entire world he liked, it was food.

"Oh cool, me too. Do you want to split them? I can order a full plate." Axel suggested as he continued to skim through the menu.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Roxas agreed keeping his eyes on his menu. He could feel his face flushing with heat every time he and Axel met eyes. He cursed those damn emerald green eyes.

"So, What are your hobbies?" Axel asked, putting down his menu once he knew what he wanted to order.

"Oh, um, you know the usual, video games, reading, learning to play guitar, tormenting my cousin. What about yourself?" he asked, hesitantly putting his menu away as well.

"Pretty much the same, minus the tormenting my cousin bit and learning guitar. I'm more of a drums person, myself." Axel chuckled before he continued. "What consoles do you have? I have an old Super NES that I restored when I was in high school." he started unbuttoning his sleeves to roll them up, feeling rather hot from his previous rush to get to the restaurant, but also partly because of his date. Those beautiful blue eyes made him super self-conscious and he would be damned if he got food all over his shirt. He already felt terrible for being so late. He couldn't afford to _also _make a fool of himself on top of everything else

As Axel explained, Roxas happened to eye Axel's wrist, and his eyes went wide when they landed on a tattoo that wrapped around it. The word "Victorious" was scrawled in beautiful lettering.

"Victorious? Are you a 'Panic!' Fan?" Roxas looked up at Axel for a moment, his gaze falling back down to the tattoo.

Axel was surprised that Roxas seemed so intrigued. "Yeah, my band opened for them a few years back. We all decided to get our favorite songs tattooed, since 'Panic!' was one of the bands that got us into music to begin with. What about you?" he asked.

"Dude, Yes! They're my favorite band! Got me through a lot when I was younger. I have their logo right here." He pointed to the underside of his arm. "I'll have to show it to ya sometime. It's probably one of my favorite tattoos." Roxas explained.

The waiter made his rounds back to Axel and Roxas, taking their order and promising to have the Moogle fries out as soon as possible.

Both men gave him their gratitude before their attentions swung back to each other.

"What's your favorite song?" Axel asked leaning forward a little bit, resting his hands on the table.

"_Far Too Young to Die_. Also _Nicotine_. Those two songs are probably their best songs." Roxas answered.

"No way. Have you heard _Death of a Bachelor_? Those falsettos are in ranges my friend Marluxia dreams of hitting one day." Axel countered a smile on his face.

"Okay, I can't argue with that one," Roxas laughed. "You mentioned being in a band. What's it called?" Roxas asked, stretching out his legs a little. He had been so cramped against the seat, he hadn't realized how uncomfortable he truly was.

"13 Hearts." Axel stretched out a little, relaxing.

Roxas felt something brush against his leg and flushed and flinched a little with the realization that it was probably Axel's long limbs. He shook that thought from his head and focused back on the conversation, "Oh! Riku and Sora dragged me to one of their shows a few weeks ago. I had an assignment and they had an extra ticket. You guys were really good."

Axel chuckled as he watched his date flush, he stored that away for later. "Assignment?" he questioned.

"Yeah, I'm taking advanced guitar to add some election credits for my Zoology degree. My Professor wanted us to attend a concert of our choosing and write about the experience. I think he's living vicariously through us." he replied with a laugh. Axel smiled widely in return.

The waitress brought the fries to their tables, asking if there were any refill requests and Axel asked for another glass of wine and some ranch for their fries. Returning his attention to Roxas he asked, "What was your favorite song?"

Roxas looked up from lazily picking at the fries. "Assassins? I think is what it was called. It was like the third or fourth song you guys played."

"Ah. Yeah, that's a new song of ours. I'm glad you like it. I actually wrote that one by myself." Axel hid his smile behind his glass of wine. Not only did Roxas like his band's music, but he liked _his song; _the one Axel spent almost three weeks perfecting.

As the night progressed, nervousness was washed away by jokes, laughter and the pure joy of being in someone else's company.

"Stop it!" Roxas laughed, moving his fork around trying pry Axel's hand away from his fries. "You have your own!" He finally jabbed in the side of Axel's hands gently.

Axel laughed moving his hand away. "There's no way you're gonna eat all of that!" He laughed again.

The blond's eyes narrowed in a playful challenge before he leaned forward. "You're probably right, but still." He huffed jokingly.

Their banter continued, as Axel's legs brushed against Roxas, albeit on purpose, just to watch the blond's face flush.

Their check was placed down on the table and before Roxas got the chance to read it, Axel snatched it and set his card inside.

"What no!" Roxas said trying to grab the bill out of Axel's hands, leaning back and pouted as the waiter returned to grab the card.

Axel chuckled and shook his head. "You can pay for our next date." He signed the receipt once his card was returned to him and grabbed out his wallet and threw a $20 on the table, making sure to secure it with the salt shaker.

Roxas's face grew red and his pout deepened as Axel continued their game of footsies. He trapped his leg in between his and trailed his foot up his leg. "Who says I want to go on a second date?"

"It's just a feeling I have." Axel replied writing down his number. "You can even choose the time and place." He slid the napkin towards the blond.

Pocketing the napkin, Roxas blushed and smirked. "You got a deal."


	2. First Kiss

Roxas could barely keep his focus on his homework, his textbook propped against his legs. His mind couldn't help but think back to his previous dates and just how understanding Axel had been about his boundaries.

During their second date, Roxas got the courage to tell Axel about Vanitas. He hadn't gotten too in-depth about their relationship, just that he ended it after being hospitalized. His heart broke a little when he had seen how upset Axel had been upon learning about this.

It was during that date that he discovered Axel's love for sea salt ice cream. Roxas himself had never tried it before, but he definitely saw the appeal when he tried it for the first time. He also really liked the look of Axel's tongue darting to lick at drops of ice cream that had started to melt away. He also remembered how badly his cheeks flushed with heat.

Roxas made sure to make a mental note to always have sea salt ice cream popsicles stocked at his apartment.

A buzzing from his phone pulled him back to reality. He dug it out of his pocket and opened the message.

"Festival of Lights is tonight, wanna go? Riku and Sora invited us." the text message read.

Biting his lip, Roxas thought it over for a moment. Did he really want to spend his evening with Axel, while Sora and Riku were close behind?

"Can we ditch them?" was his response.

About a moment had passed when his phone buzzed again.

"Duh. Don't need them impeding on our romantic night together ;)"

Roxas rolled his eyes but that didn't stop the blush on his cheeks.

"Cool. What time should we meet? What's the dress code? D:."

"Hm. Riku says about 6? Just a few hours before Night settles in and we can visit some of the vendors. Casual, but a light jacket? It's supposed to be cold."

"Sounds good to me. I could ditch the jacket and you could keep me warm ;)"

"I could think of a few ways I could do that. :p."

Roxas looked at the time on his phone. 4:30. He had some time to maybe put a little dent in his homework before he need to get ready.

As time grew closer, Roxas got up and started getting ready, trying to decide what he wanted to wear.

Casual was something he was usually good at, but with how his and Axel's relationship was developing, he wanted to at least impress him, while still being comfy.

Finally settling on a pair of jeans, a plain tee and his favorite hoodie, back with checkered sleeves, Roxas gathered his things and hopped into the shower.

Meanwhile, Axel was in a similar, but deeper dilemma.

"Why are you so nervous?" Riku questioned as he sat up on Axel's bed, leaning back on his hands.

Peaking out of the bathroom with his vibrant red hair wrapped in a towel, he glared at Riku. "You know why," he replied.

"No, I don't. Are you gonna kiss him or something?" Riku teased.

A travel-sized bottle of shampoo came flying from the room and Riku groaned as it made contact with his head.

"Fine. But this is like what – your fifth date? There's nothing to be nervous about. He's gonna say yes." Riku stated.

Axel emerged from the bathroom, a burgundy sweater on his torso and a gray knitted scarf wrapped around his neck. His hair was brushed back and a gray beanie was atop his head.

"It's still nerve wracking. He's so cute and sweet. Plus, he told me about Vanitas so I imagine relationships are hard after something like that." Axel ran his hands down his shirt to make it flatten out.

Riku nodded knowingly. Sora had informed him of the controlling, abusive relationship Roxas had been in with Vanitas. It had gotten so bad that Vanitas threw drugs into the mix and Roxas was hospitalized due to an overdose.

"What happened between Roxas and Vanitas was three years ago. You guys met, two months ago and have gone on how many dates now? You know he talks about you all the time. I think he's willing to try, for you. You shouldn't give up now because he has a dark past." Riku looked at his best friend.

Axel shrugged. "I'm not giving up. I haven't even asked him yet. I'm just nervous. 4 years in an abusive relationship can really take its toll on someone and he may not feel comfortable or want to be tied down in another relationship."

Riku watched him. He went to say something, but his phone interrupted any thoughts he may have had. "Sora and Roxas are heading to the festival. You about ready?" He asked the redhead.

"Yeah, let's head out."

The car ride to the fairgrounds was a quiet one, aside from the random music that was being played on the radio.

Riku drove and Axel scrolled through his phone looking at various social media as well as texting Roxas, letting him know they would be there soon.

Once they arrived and the car was parked, Axel jumped out and stretched; looking around for a familiar head of blond hair.

"Where did he say they'd be?" Riku inquired looking through his text messages.

"Uh." Axel hummed, grabbing his phone to provide an answer.

"Ur ass looks amazing in those jeans."

Looking around, Axel's eyebrows furrowed when he was unable to locate his date.

Before he got the chance to respond, arms wrapped around his waist from behind and he recognized the black and white bands that wrapped around two of the fingers.

Turning around, Axel pulled Roxas into a hug before attacking his sides, tickling him.

Roxas smacked Axel's hands away as fits of giggles and squeals escaped his mouth. "Stop it!" He drawled with a playful pout, finally grabbing onto the redhead's hands and interlacing their fingers.

Biting his lip, Axel felt the sudden urge to lean down and kiss him, as sapphire blue eyes met his.

"Can you guys get a room? You're giving me a stomachache from how cute you're being." Riku joked, still looking for his own boyfriend.

"This is petty revenge for having to listen to you and Sora through the walls all these years." Roxas teased right back. He tugged on Axel's hands before dropping one and leading them off further into the festival, the smells of churros and hot cakes filling the air.

Since it wasn't going to be dark for at least two more hours, children ran around freely, despite their parents best efforts.

Squeals of children could be heard as they chased each and occasionally an irritated, yet tired mother would try make them stop.

Roxas pointed to the Giant Ferris Wheel. "I went on one with Sora and he puked when we got to the top. I think I almost peed myself from laughing so hard."

Axel smiled as they looked around the vendors, stopping by ones that piqued their interests. There were vendors that sold specialized soap, mood rings, some had games to win prizes and more.

"Ax, look." Roxas grabbed his attention and pointed to a booth that looked to have a goofy dart game. Balloons lined the back and each person got three darts.

If they could pop three balloons, they got a prize. Axel looked over at the booth and instantly knew why Roxas was so intrigued. There was a giant stuffed white tiger that hung from the top.

Biting his lip, Axel dragged Roxas along to the booth and took out some money to play the game. The gentleman that was hosting the game handed him 3 darts in exchange for his money.

Taking aim, Axel threw a dart at one of the balloons and smirked when it popped. He heard Roxas clapping next to him, as he prepared to aim for another balloon.

Another pop was barely heard over the rustling of the festival-goers.

"Alright sir, just one more." The vendor grinned at Axel, as the redhead took aim at the final balloon.

Pop! The sound was drowned out much like the previous ones.

"Yes!" Roxas threw his hands in the air.

"Which one would you like sir?" The vendor asked, motioning to all the stuffed animals.

"The white tiger, please." Axel requested, pointing to the one that had first caught his eye.

The vendor nodded and stood on a ladder to get it down for him. He handed it to Roxas, whose blue eyes shined with excitement as he wrapped his arms tightly around the white tiger.

Axel chuckled as he took Roxas's hand once more and they started heading down the rows of vendors again, stopping at ones that looked mildly interesting and pointing at things their friends and families may enjoy.

"At this rate, I could probably get my Christmas shopping done right now, if I wanted to." Axel picked up a soap to see what it was made of and to give it a sniff to see if he liked the smell.

Making a face he set the soap down. He turned to Roxas who was busy on his phone.

"What's up?" Axel asked continuing to move down the table finding scents that he liked. He came across one that smelt like sea salt ice cream with hints of vanilla and caramel. He picked 3 up and asked to pay for them.

"Oh, sorry, Sora's texting me, wants to know if we're hungry. Personally, I'm starving. What about you?" Roxas asked, pocketing his phone.

Axel thanked the vendor before taking Roxas hand. He felt his stomach grumble and he shrugged. "I could go for something to eat."

Roxas rolled his eyes playfully before texting Sora that he and Axel were hungry and would meet him and Riku by the food trucks.

"What kind of food trucks do they have?" Axel asked, taking Roxas's hand as they walked.

"Honestly, I don't know. It varies each year. Last year they had a taco truck, a burger truck, a hotdog place called Doggiestyle." Roxas elbowed Axel's arm jokingly, which in turn made Axel roll his eyes before he started tickling Roxas.

Roxas cracked up, smacking Axel's hands and hitting him with the stuffed tiger.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop," Axel said.

Roxas held his stomach as he calmed down. They continued to make their way to the food trucks, pointing out booths they wanted to visit after they ate.

Spotting Sora and Riku, Axel and Roxas walked up to them and waved. "Do you want to put your stuff in the car?" Sora asked as he pointed to the bag and tiger.

Roxas looked down and shrugged. "Yeah, we can make a trip to the car after we eat," he said.

"What are you guys in the mood for?" Riku asked as he looked at the different food trucks that were lined up.

Axel bit back a smirk as he replied. "Doggiestyle sounds good."

Roxas let out a fit of giggles that left the other two confused.

"Well, it's right down here." Sora pointed to the hot dog food truck.

The four men made their way to the decided food truck and stood in line chattering amongst themselves. Axel wrapped his arms around Roxas's waist and buried his face into his hair. Roxas leaned against Axel, smiling contently as the line slowly drudged along.

Once they all got their food, they found a bench to sit at, the four men sat down and ate their food. Sora whipped out his camera and started showing them the things he had taken pictures of.

"Someone was dressed in those inflatable dinosaur costumes." Sora laughed showing the picture to Roxas, who in turn, joined him in his laughter.

After dinner, they continued to walk around, stopping at the vendors they wanted to visit and once it started to get dark, they meandered to the grassy area where everyone would release the lanterns.

"Here ya are." Axel said presenting the lantern to Roxas and then holding out several markers.

"What are the markers for?" Roxas asked, taking a blue marker and the lantern.

"To decorate the lantern. We can find it and take it home." Axel said with a red marker. He quickly signed his name and drew a couple hearts and little flames around.

Roxas chuckled as he did the same, drawing music notes, stars and putting a "+" and his name under Axel's. Once they were content with their handy work, Axel pocketed the markers.

"When does the ceremony begin?" Roxas asked, looking at his phone.

"In about two minutes, I believe." Axel answered, pulling Roxas to his chest. He pressed a kiss to the top of his hair before looking around.

Axel looked around, watching other couples and families prepare their lanterns. Some were posing for pictures while others were snuggled up on blankets in the grass.

Roxas leaned up against Axel's chest, playing with his hands idly. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and relaxed as he took in Axel's scent; sea salt and sand wood. The scent calmed his racing heart.

"We should take a picture." Roxas stated, moving to pull his phone out of his pocket. Pulling up the camera app, he held up the phone and snapped a photo once he and Axel were ready.

As he lowered his phone, lanterns started to be released in the sky.

"You ready?" Axel asked, resting his chin on Roxas shoulder.

Roxas bit his lip and nodded taking the lantern, igniting the flame and giving the lantern a little momentum and watched as it started floating away.

"Wow." was the only thing out of Roxas's mouth as he watched their lantern slowly join the others.

Axel watched for a moment before turning to kiss Roxas on his cheek. He felt Roxas's hand cup the back of his neck as he leaned into the kiss. Pulling away, Axel took a free hand and pulled Roxas's face to his.

Blue eyes met green eyes and Roxas's brow furrowed in confusion.

Axel's breath hitched in his throat as the lights from the lanterns above them reflected off Roxas's eyes making them sparkle.

Shadows danced across his face, enhancing his features and Axel made a mental note to memorize how Roxas's features looked in this lighting; the lights flashing over his blue eyes, showing their depths and the small flecks of silver that swam in his eyes. Running this thumb over Roxas' cheek, Axel leaned down and pressed their mouths together in a soft kiss.

A soft gasp against Axel's mouth made him grin and he kissed Roxas again, hoping the younger male would get the hint to kiss back. After a few more moments, Roxas moved his mouth to kiss back and his body shifted so they faced each other.

Axel's hands found Roxas's waist and pulled him closer to his body, tilting his head to the side and deepening the kiss. It wasn't until they saw a flash and the sounds of Riku and Sora whooping and cheering that the pair separate, Roxas buried his face into Axel's chest, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Axel chuckled and flipped off his friends, who only jeered louder when the saw the gesture.

"Man tonight was a lot of fun." Roxas said as he fell on Axel's couch, the white tiger pressed against his chest.

Axel chuckled as he stood in the kitchen, grabbing out two mugs and putting a kettle of water on the stove. Once the mugs were filled with the packs of hot chocolate and the kettle was heating, Axel removed his sweater and tossed it into his bedroom before returning to the living room to join Roxas on the couch.

"I would have to agree. What are gonna do with the lantern?" he asked pulling Roxas against his chest.

"I'll take it. Maybe hang it up in my room or something." Roxas said, taking Axel's hand and lacing their fingers together.

"Sounds good to me." Axel rested his chin on the top of Roxas's head. They sat in silence and Axel's mind was racing and his heart was starting to thump with how nervous he was. Why was he so nervous? He kissed Roxas with no issue, why was asking him to be his boyfriend making him feel like his heart was gonna beat out of his chest?

Rubbing his thumb over the top of Roxas's hand absentmindedly, he jumped when he heard the kettle start to whistle in the kitchen.

Roxas started to laugh and Axel glared at him playfully. "You must've been deep in thought if that scared you." the blond teased.

"Yeah." Axel let out a breathy sigh before getting up to stop the kettle and to make their hot chocolate. "Do you want any milk or marshmallows?" he asked pouring water into the cups and stirring them until the mixture was completely dissolved.

"Just milk, please." came Roxas's reply.

Axel nodded to himself as he poured a little bit of milk to cool off their drinks and mixed them up again. He could just ask him. How hard was it just ask, 'Wanna be my boyfriend?' Easy. Or at least it was that easy.

Walking back into the living room, he set their drinks on the coffee table. Roxas was in the middle of taking his hoodie off. "Here, I'll hang it up for you." he said taking the sweater and hanging it on the coat rack behind the door.

Axel took a seat next to Roxas, grabbing his drink in the process and took a tentative sip. His eyes looked over the tattoos that adorned the younger man's arms. There were two that were readily visible to him, but he knew he had more.

The first was on his right wrist, a checkered pattern that wrapped around as if it was a permanent bracelet. The other were lyrics that read 'You never could control me." which he recognized from one of Panic! At the Disco's songs.

Shifting a little, Axel took a sip of his hot chocolate as his mind went to some of the details that Roxas had informed him of regarding his last relationship. He didn't go into too much detail, but there was an underlying story there. Why else would his ex put him in hospital? Looking at the tattoo, which covered some old scars, Axel's heart dropped into his stomach. He knew it was too soon to ask him. He didn't want to scare Roxas away.

"Ax?" Roxas pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked at Roxas who appeared concerned for a moment before laughed. "What's gotten you thinking so much? Am I that bad of a kisser?" he asked feigning hurt.

Coughing, having drank just as Roxas made the joke, Axel sat his drink down and shook his head. "No, you're a great kisser." he said pulling the blond into a kiss, smiling against his mouth.

Roxas kissed him back, a content sigh leaving his mouth. He pulled away after a few more kisses were exchanged and smiled up at Axel. "Seriously though, what's on your mind?" He asked setting his mug down and leaning against Axel.

He wanted to ask Roxas to be his boyfriend. But he had to make it special. He needed Roxas to know how badly he wanted to start a relationship with him.

"What's your schedule like this week?" Axel asked looking at Roxas.

"Umm," his eyebrow furrowed as he tried to remember what his schedule was. "I have class until 4 all week, but I'm at the Zoo until 6 tuesdays and Wednesdays. I'm off Friday's though, why?"

"Let me cook for you." Axel said, playing with the hairs on the back of Roxas's neck.

Roxas looked up at him and a smile spread across his face. "I would love that." He said excitedly.

Axel gave him a smile before pressing a kiss to his forehead as they settled into the couch. He grabbed the remote and changed it to a random movie, which they watched until Roxas started to feel like he was going to pass out and decided to head home.


	3. Of Chocolate Cake and Tongue Piercings

"Do you know what kind of food Roxas likes?" Axel asked Riku as he stood in the bakery section of the grocery store they were in.

He had dragged Riku along for his grocery shopping since he hated to go alone. Plus, he needed insight on what Roxas liked and disliked eating without having to ask him outright.

Axel was determined to make their upcoming dinner a wonderfully special meal. In addition, he wanted to make sure their date was so romantic that Roxas had to say 'yes' to his question, or was at least more inclined to say yes.

"He's always liked Italian food. Especially baked ziti." Riku said, leaning against the cart.

Axel looked around for the ingredients, picking some things he needed for his lunches at work. "What about wine? What kind of wine does he like?" He asked, picking up a 2017 bottle of Pinot Noir.

Riku looked at the bottle in Axel's hands. "He doesn't drink much, so I'm kind of clueless there. You should buy him some Root Beer. He'll appreciate that more, I think."

Recalling their first date, Axel vaguely remembered Roxas ordering something non-alcoholic. Setting the bottle of wine back on the shelf he headed down the aisle where the sodas were stocked and picked up a bottle of Root Beer. "Does he have a favorite brand?" He looked to Riku.

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "Usually we just grab him Mug." He grabbed the bottle of Mug and set it into the basket. He looked over at Axel who was focusing on some other Root Beer choices. "Hey, you're really nervous about this aren't you?" he asked, resting his hand on Axel's shoulder.

Looking up at Riku, Axel nodded his head, feeling pathetic. "I just want it to be perfect, ya know? I saw his tattoos and I don't know the full story of what happened, but if his tattoo means anything I don't want him to think that I'm going to control him. I won't be like his ex."

Riku nodded as he squeezed Axel's shoulder, saying everything he needed to say in that one action.

The pair made their way around the store, picking up what they needed as far as groceries were concerned.

"I don't remember if I told you, but Sora and I got the house," Riku mentioned quietly as they unloaded Axel's stuff onto the conveyor belt at the checkout.

Axel knew they had made plans to move in together, once Sora was settled into his job at the bakery, and he knew they had been looking for the perfect place for almost a year. When Riku showed him the house they were planning to buy, he was ecstatic for them.

"Congratulations! I'm happy for you. Having to pay mortgage without the help of you paying rent and paying utilities in full again is gonna suck, but I'll manage," Axel said as he set some stuff on the conveyor belt.

Riku chuckled before moving some of his stuff to the front of the cart.

"I'm gonna ask him to marry me on our first night in our new home. I bought the ring last week," Riku said, eyes on a magazine.

Axel looked at Riku, shocked at first before happiness washed over him. "Took you long enough. I figured you would've asked him at the two-year mark, not the twelve-year mark."

"I want you to be my best man." Riku ignored his comment and looked at Axel.

The redhead didn't say anything. He just pulled his best friend into a tight hug, which was confirmation enough for Riku who hugged him back, equally as tight.

Axel pulled away after a moment and squeezed Riku's bicep before moving to pay for his things. Once everything had been paid for, they headed out to the car and headed home to unload the groceries.

Roxas looked at the clothes he had picked out for his date with Axel. Their dinner date was two days away and he wasn't going to lie, he was nervous.

"Should I go with the silk black shirt or the white one?" he asked holding the shirts up to Sora who was leaning against the door frame of Roxas's bedroom.

Sora looked between the two shirts before making a face. "Did Axel say he wanted you to dress nice?" he asked as he moved to look through Roxas's closet.

"No, but I'm going to his house for dinner so I want to make a good impression," he said, setting the shirts down.

Sora nodded. "This isn't a first date Rox, you can be casual for a dinner date at his house." He looked around, finding a nice gray plaid over-shirt. "Here, wear this over a black shirt with those skinny jeans you picked out the other day," he said, handing Roxas the garments.

Roxas nodded as he took the item of clothing and paired it with the shirt Sora was referring to. He grabbed the jeans and looped them through the bottom of the hanger. "What about shoes?" he asked, turning to face Sora.

Sora rolled his eyes jokingly and pointed at Roxas's Converse. "Easy," he said shrugging his shoulders.

Roxas rolled his eyes at Sora before laughing and setting everything to the side. "I heard you guys got the house. Congratulations." A beaming smile adorned his face.

Sora chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that." He moved to sit on Roxas's bed.

Roxas looked to his cousin, eyebrows furrowed. "What's going on? You're not having second thoughts are you?"

Sora shook his head. "No, it just," he started before sighing. "I'm just worried about you. This will be the first time you'll be on your own, since...you know...rehab. I know you've been doing so well with your sobriety and I understand that the drug abuse was partially your ex's fault, but I still worry."

Chewing on his lip, Roxas nodded. "If it makes you feel any better, I found a one bedroom that's right behind Axel's place. I was thinking about moving there when the lease is up in a few months. It's a great neighborhood, the apartment itself has a high recommendation rate and let's be real, with Axel living literally a backyard away, I'll probably be with him most of the time too, whether that's at my place or his, so I'll have someone to look after me. Plus, I'm not with Vanitas anymore and as far as I know, Axel doesn't do drugs, so I won't be pressured." He hoped this would reassure his cousin.

Sora nodded but it was obvious he was still having qualms about leaving his cousin behind. "Riku and I discussed having you move in with us. We have the two extra bedrooms," he offered.

Roxas shook his head and moved his hands in a 'no way' motion. "I won't impose on your life, Sora. Not anymore. This has been your dream, for how long now? I'd hate to crowd you guys. Especially since I've been doing that for almost three years."

Sora sighed and whispered, "You wouldn't be imposing on us."

"I know, but you guys have been taking care of me for almost three years now. I'm almost done with my degree, I'm seeing someone who I really like and I hope feels the same about me. Besides I've been clean for three years. Would it make you feel better if I got a cat or something?" Roxas teased.

Sora sighed, giving Roxas a sad smile. "I'm really proud of you Rox. You've gone through so much shit in your life, yet here you are, living life as if it has no obstacles."

Roxas studied Sora for a moment. He grabbed Sora's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You know you'll always be my best friend, right? You will always be my favorite cousin; favorite person. Axel will never replace you," he said sincerely.

Sora looked at Roxas and tackled him into a hug, knocking the wind out of the blond. "Thank you. I... I really needed to hear that," he whispered before moving away and ruffling Roxas's hair.

—

The day of their dinner date, Axel had spent most of his morning preparing the ziti. When the ziti was finished he had put it in the fridge to stay fresh before his date arrived.

He leaned against the counter, twisting his tongue so he could chew on the top ball of the barbel. "Are you going to keep up the facade that you have no piercings?" Riku asked him as he cleaned off his plate and put the dish into the dishwasher.

"It's too much of a hassle. At least with my other piercings I can hide them with a shirt, but every time I take this thing out I'm afraid it's gonna close up." Axel forced the barbel to sit in between his front teeth.

Riku scoffed. "You just wanna try it out on Roxas when you guys have sex," he teased.

Axel looked at Riku, a smirk forming on his face. "You caught me."

"Gross." Riku pushed Axel's shoulder playfully.

"You should get one, I'm sure Sora would appreciate it." Axel started putting the clean dishes away.

"Sora appreciates my blow jobs without the body modification."

"Now who's gross?" Axel tossed a towel at a laughing Riku.

A buzzing sound filled the room and Axel grabbed his phone out of his pocket. "Roxas is heading over right now," he said responding to the message before pocketing his phone. His heart was racing at the thought of how things were going to go once Roxas got here. Would he say yes when he asked? Or was he just dating Axel for sex and planned to move on once he got what he wanted?

Riku studied him for a moment before speaking. "You're overthinking again, Axel. Roxas really likes you. Though, If I were you, I'd get dressed. Flame emoji pajamas and pink bunny slippers don't really spell out 'romantic' if you ask me. I'll put the Ziti in and I'll let Roxas in once he gets here."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, man." Axel nodded pushing himself off the counter and headed down the hall to his bedroom to get dressed.

After he received a text from Axel stating it was all right for him to come over, he peeked his head into Sora's room to let him know he was heading out.

"Oh, I made you guys dessert. Well, sort of. I made dessert for when Riku was coming over so we can discuss our new home, but then I ended up making too much and made a whole other cake," Sora walked past Roxas into the kitchen and grabbed a cake out of the fridge. "So here, take this with you." Sora handed him the cake he had made.

Roxas looked at it and raised an eyebrow at him. The cake itself was just a plain cake with roses made from red icing. Congratulations was scrawled in beautiful handwriting across the cake in white icing.

"Ooooookay. I'll be home sometime tomorrow. I'll text you if anything happens," Roxas said as he headed towards his car. Placing all of his stuff on the passenger seat, he started towards Axel's.

It wouldn't take him long to get there and he tried to keep his focus on the road, rather than the date he was driving to. Since he and Axel started dating, he couldn't get the redhead out of his head. After their date at the festival of lights, Roxas wondered when it would be okay for them to consider themselves in a relationship.

_Relationship._ That was a notion he hadn't thought about in a long time. Did Axel want to be in a relationship with him?

He surely hoped he did.

Once he arrived at Axel's apartment, Roxas parked behind Axel's dark purple Hyundai Accent, grabbed his backpack and the cake, then headed to the front door. With his free hand he rang the doorbell.

Moments later, the door opened and Roxas was face to face with Riku, an unusual smirk playing at his lips. Roxas didn't like what that meant.

"What?" he asked, face flushing feeling embarrassed under Riku's stare.

"You and Axel are so cute. Come on in, make yourself at home." he said opening the door wide for him.

Roxas mentally cursed Riku as he walked into the house, adjusting the strap on his shoulder as he took in his surroundings. The entryway of the house consisted of a miniature hallway that lead to another hallway on the right, and the living room to the left. To the left of the front doorway, almost adjacent to it, was entryway that lead to the kitchen, which then opened up into the dining room and living room.

"Here, let me grab this for you." Riku took his bag and gently set it on one of the stools that stood under the kitchen island. He made sure it was steady on the surface, not wanting to be responsible for anything breaking.

"Thanks," Roxas said softly carrying the cake to the fridge and placing it inside. Smells of parmesan, meat, and cheese sauce filled his nose and made his stomach rumble. "Baked Ziti?" he asked, turning to Riku who was grabbing his keys off the counter.

Riku grinned before saluting to Roxas. "Have fun, tell Axel that I'll see him tomorrow," he said before heading out the door.

Roxas nodded watching him go before taking a seat at the island and looking through his phone. He sent a quick text to Sora that said 'made it safely, Riku's on his way, btw' and started looking through his various social media.

"Oh hi," Axel said walking out as he spotted Roxas.

Looking up, Roxas grinned, taking in his date's outfit; a black button-down shirt and black jeans. His feet didn't have anything on them, but that was okay with Roxas, he had no plans to leave the house until he went home.

"Hey," Roxas replied standing up and moving to Axel, who leaned down and gave him a small kiss. Roxas hummed into the kiss and looked back at the kitchen. "So who told you my favorite food was baked Ziti?" he asked, smirking.

Axel looked guilty rubbing the back of his neck. "I may or may not have confided in Riku since I really wanted to impress you. It should be done soon, I put it in the oven when you texted me," he said looking at the timer. "Yeah, we have ten minutes, do you want anything to drink?" he asked.

"Sure, what do you have?"

"Uh, milk, apple juice, root beer, wine?" Axel listed off the drinks before turning to Roxas.

"Root beer?" a playful smirk sat on Roxas' lips before he chuckled. "I'll take water for now, I'll save the soda for dinner."

Axel blushed before moving around the kitchen to grab a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with filtered water from the fridge. He handed the glass to Roxas who took a sip and set the glass on the island softly.

"Supposedly, Sora made too much cake batter and made an extra cake. Though I'm a little confused as to why it says 'Congratulations'. Sora is weird sometimes." Roxas said.

Axel had gotten his own glass of water and nearly choked when he heard what the cake said. "Wait, you're serious?" he asked looking over at the cake that stood on the counter. He shook his head and laughed. He was going to kill Sora and Riku.

"Maybe he gave you the wrong cake? I mean, Riku did mention they were going to celebrate buying their new house." Axel offered as he tried to think of ways to exact his revenge.

Roxas shrugged before nodding. "Probably, he'd probably lose his head if it wasn't attached to him," he said teasingly.

Axel laughed, shaking his head as the timer for the ziti went off. He grabbed the hot pads from where he had tossed them earlier and pulled their dinner out. He took the ziti to the table, which Roxas noticed had been set with a dark green tablecloth, two matching electric candles, which flickered away giving the feel of real candles. Plates, silverware, and wine glasses were set on the table.

Axel set the Ziti down and put a basket of garlic bread on the table before motioning for Roxas to take a seat.

Roxas obliged, pressing a kiss to Axel's cheek before taking a seat and scooted closer to the table. "This looks and smells amazing, Ax," he said as Axel moved to the fridge bringing a bowl that consisted of Caesar salad, a bottle of Root Beer, and a bottle of wine to the table.

"Thanks, I hope it's good. I've never made baked Ziti before," Axel said as he poured Root Beer into a wine glass for Roxas and then some wine into his own glass. He put the bottles on the counter and took a seat, then he handed the salad over to Roxas so he could start serving himself.

"Well, if it's totally awful, at least you tried, which is good enough for me. I'll just fill up on salad and bread," he grinned as he handed the bowl back to Axel before moving to the main course.

He cut out a square of the Ziti and set it on his plate and waited for Axel to serve himself.

"Are you excited to be living on your own?" Axel asked as they started to eat.

Roxas started on the salad wanting to let the Ziti cool down. "Excited, but nervous too. I haven't lived out on my own since, well, Vanitas broke up with me." He felt embarrassed to be even mentioning his ex's name.

"I get what you mean, not having Riku around is gonna be weird. He's already pretty quiet, but it's the knowledge of there not being an extra body taking up space, ya know?" Axel explained, before blowing on a piece of Ziti to cool it down before taking a bite.

"Mm, yeah. Sora's worried about me but I told him I'm gonna stay at that duplex until graduation. Once I graduate I can find somewhere else to live, since I won't need to be so close to the college anymore." Roxas shrugged his shoulders.

Axel nodded as they continued to eat. "I do have to agree with Sora's feelings on the matter though. Are you going to be okay after living with other people for so long?"

"I'm thinking about getting a cat. Sora is more of a dog person, plus he's allergic to cats, so we just agreed to never have animals when we lived together. But I think a cat would be good. Give me company." He stabbed a piece of the Ziti and took a bite, letting out a soft groan of approval. "Oh my God, this is _so good._ Please always cook for me." Roxas laughed after swallowing his bite.

"Good to know you appreciate my cooking," Axel said. His nerves started to settle into his stomach as they continued to eat. He needed to ask Roxas, but with every passing second and every flash of his wrist tattoo, Axel chickened out.

Taking up the glass of wine, Axel took a swig of it and let out a breath. It was now or never. "Hey Rox?"

"Hm?" Roxas looked over at him, after taking another piece of bread.

It was now or never.

"These past two months have been a _lot_ of fun and this is starting to feel really cliché." Axel paused and laughed. "I was wondering if you would like to be my boyfriend?"

Roxas' heart raced as things started falling into place. The nice dinner at home and the cake with "congratulations" written in white frosting were huge clues that Roxas had wanted to ignore because it was too good to be true. Axel wanted _him_ to be his boyfriend?

Looking at Axel, who looked terrified of what his answer would be, Roxas couldn't fight down the smile that formed. "Yes. I would _love_ to be your boyfriend."

Axel couldn't help the grin either and nodded. "Cool," was his response which made them both laugh.

After dinner was eaten, leftovers were packed away into the fridge, dishes were cleaned up and placed into the dishwasher, the now-boyfriends were on the couch, eating the cake that Sora had _accidentally_ made.

Once the pieces of cake were taken care of, Axel pulled Roxas onto his lap. Roxas allowed his arms to rest on the back of the couch, as they exchanged lazy kisses, enjoying the taste of each other mixed with chocolate icing.

Axel was the first to start deepening the kiss, tilting his head, wrapping his arms around Roxas' waist, pulling his boyfriend's body closer to his.

Wrapping his arms around Axel's neck, Roxas kissed back, pushing his tongue against Axel's lips and into his mouth. He rubbed against Axel and gasped as his tongue met something warm and metallic. He could feel Axel smirk against his mouth and he pulled away. "You have your tongue pierced?" Roxas asked, his blue eyes wide.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Axel nodded tentatively before sticking his tongue out to show Roxas who looked at the barbel. It was nothing special as Axel didn't like anything extravagant that could take away from his face, but Roxas' intent focus on it made him feel a little self conscious all the same.

"Why, when? Did it hurt? Do you have more?" Roxas asked, eyes trailing down Axel's body.

Axel chuckled. "I got it done shortly after I got my degree. It was kind of like a 'fuck you' to my ex who didn't like that I wanted to express myself. My tattoos on my face hurt a lot more than piercing my tongue did." He paused, a sly smirk playing on his lips. "To be fair, I have more that you haven't seen yet."

Roxas's eyes went wide. "Where?"

Leaning forward, Axel bit his lip before releasing it. "You'll have to wait and see."

Roxas groaned moving so he was straddling Axel's hips. "That's not fair." he whined, running his hands through the hair at the base of Axel's neck, making the older male shiver.

"What's not fair?" Axel raised an eyebrow, rubbing circles into Roxas' hips with his thumbs.

"Don't give me a sneak peek if you're not going to follow through with the rest." Roxas leaned forward, blue eyes never faltering from green ones.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Axel said closing the gap between them and kissing him hungrily.

Roxas returned the kiss, gripping Axel's hair and pulling his head back so he could control the kiss. A surprised gasp escaped from the redhead's mouth and Roxas took advantage to take dominance of the kiss, biting and licking at Axel's lips before licking into his mouth. Tasting the metal, mixed with Axel's natural taste and chocolate cake, Roxas let out a stuttered breath.

Axel's hands were pressed against Roxas' mid back before trailing down, playing with the hem of Roxas' boxers that peeked just above the waist of his jeans.

Roxas hummed, grabbing Axel's hand, interlacing their fingers, and sighed as he pulled away.

"Roxas." Axel sighed softly, an ounce of playful frustration in his voice.

"Axel." Roxas mimicked the tone which caused Axel to growl and press a hungry kiss to his jaw and started to trail kisses down his neck.

"Before this can go any further I need to be honest with you about my past." Roxas sighed, leaning back a little on Axel's lap and ran a hand through his blond locks.

Axel leaned back taking in Roxas' serious expression. He started to rub circles into his hips again, hoping to be encouraging as he waited for his boyfriend to start speaking again.

"When Vanitas and I dated, he controlled a lot of aspects of my life. He would dictate what I was allowed to wear, who I was allowed to spend my time with when I wasn't with him, and even decided what classes I took each semester. It's part of the reason I'm just now getting my degree when I should've had it two years ago." Roxas voice started to strain as he reached into one of the pockets of the flannel he was wearing.

Inside was the piece of baby blanket his mother had bought for him before he was born. It was one of the only things he had left from when his parents were still alive. It was something familiar; a piece of a memory of a mom who soothed him when he cried after falling off his bike. The steadily rising panic in his chest started to settle as he fondled the fabric

"Two years ago?" Axel asked, confused.

Roxas nodded before continuing."Let me explain, my therapist told me that I hold onto my relationships with people almost as if they're like a lifeboat because of my loss of my parents when I was ten. So, because Vanitas meant so much to me I was willing to do anything he asked of me. I was like a puppy, wanting to be good for its owner, eager to please and get scratches behind my ear." His eyes wandered a little, trying to focus on something that wasn't his boyfriend's face.

"I wanted to save my first time because I wanted it to be special. None of that purity pledge garbage, just...I wanted to have some control over my life that was practically being controlled by someone else. I wanted to, at least, have control over the one thing that I decided to give someone."

"So, one night I came home from class, after having a shitty day, only to find my day was going to get shittier. I caught Vanitas cheating on me and several days later, because I was so eager to please him and was afraid of losing Vanitas, I ended up sleeping with him."

Axel looked at him confused, hands resting on Roxas's hip.

Roxas let out an amused sigh. "Bear with me, there's a point to mentioning this, I promise." He moved a little to get comfortable. "A few weeks had passed and Vanitas had convinced me to start snorting coke before we'd have sex. He claimed it would enhance our experience. So, because I was, and let's be real, still to this day, very eager to please, I agreed." he chuckled, the low rumble sounded almost self-deprecating.

"And Vanitas was right, it did enhance our experience but I didn't like the aftermath of how it made me feel, so I didn't want to do it anymore. When I told Vanitas, it was as if it went in one ear and out the other. He never listened and it escalated to the point where I got addicted. He would switch it up some nights and we'd shoot up heroin. At this point how I felt after the high wore off didn't matter to me. I just wanted to make Vanitas happy." His sighed heavily, hating how embarrassed he felt from admitting all of this.

"It was shortly after our five-year mark that Vanitas ended things with me, saying he didn't love me anymore, and then I snapped. He told me to move out and in a sort of petty revenge, I...I took what he had left over; heroin, coke and I think there was weed too, but I don't remember. I do remember waking up in the hospital because I had overdosed." Roxas bit his lip, trying to will the tears that had started to form, to go away. He looked to Axel waiting for him to say or do something.

Roxas's heart started to race as they sat in silence. He clenched his jaw trying to control his breathing. Having an attack now wouldn't do him any good. "Say something?" He bit his lip and played with the piece of baby-blanket he carried around with him in his pocket.

He rubbed his thumb over the worn, soft fleece and the feel of the burnt edges reminded him why the piece never left him. It was similar to those thunder shirts people bought for their dogs that were too skittish to handle loud noises like thunder and fireworks. Feeling the piece of blanket wrapped a sense of security around his heart and allowed him to fight off the anxiety that would try to strike.

Axel shifted underneath him. He wore a look on his face that Roxas could only explain as unreadable and cold.

Roxas's heart sank as he made to move away from him. Things were going so well, why did he have to go and dump all this information on to his boyfriend? They hadn't even been boyfriends for that long, how was this okay? Axel was bound to break up with him, there was no way he'd want to date someone who had gone to rehab.

Axel was probably trying to think of ways to let him down softly without hurting his fragile feelings. After all, who would want to date an ex-drug abuser?

He felt hands grab on to his waist keeping him plastered to Axel's lap.

"Hey, I didn't ask you to leave. I'm just trying to process everything. That is a lot to just drop on someone's lap." Axel explained taking the hand that wasn't preoccupied with the blanket and lifted it so he could kiss his knuckles gently.

A few moments of silence passed before Axel started to speak again. "So you're sober?"

Concern was washed over with confusion as Roxas processed the question being asked. "Yeah, I've been clean for almost three years now." he said.

Axel nodded. "Congratulations, by the way. When is your anniversary? We'll go out and celebrate."

"Well, it's the first of July, but going out and partying kind of defeats the purpose of staying sober for so long." Roxas frowned.

"Oh no, I meant we could get dinner. Maybe get some ice cream. Celebrate that you're sober and that you haven't relapsed. I-I would never intentionally do anything that could unravel the hard work you've done." he promised.

"Right, sorry," he apologized.

"This is just as new for you as it is me. Don't apologize. But, I do have to ask and I hate to be that guy who thinks with his cock, but are you clean?" Axel asked, biting his lip, afraid to offend Roxas.

Realization washed over Roxas's face and he nodded. "Yeah, when I was in rehab they required that I be tested every two weeks since heroin users used whatever needles they could get their hands on. The clinic wanted to make sure I hadn't contracted anything during my abuse, plus they wanted to make sure I wasn't using in general. I didn't have anything that needed to be treated while I was going through withdrawals. They eventually let up on how often I needed to be tested and after the one-year mark of being sober they decided they didn't need me to be tested more than once a year unless I started sleeping with someone. Which, now that I think about it, is kind of hard to do when you're in rehab, since it's family visitation only." he rambled.

Axel stayed quiet, his eyes searching Roxas' face. He was so surprised that Roxas was so open about this. Most of his friends who had gone through treatment for their addictions never talked about it. Granted they also went back to using too. "That's actually really smart, I didn't know they required testing."

Roxas hummed in response before continuing. "Yeah, out of habit, I get tested once a month. Some STI's lay dormant before they rear their ugly head. Here, I just got tested a week ago, since I thought, maybe we would've hooked up at the festival." His face flushed as he moved off Axel's lap and headed into the kitchen to get his backpack. He dug through his things until he found the results and walked back, reclaiming his place on Axel's lap.

Handing them to Axel he watched his boyfriend read over the results: All negative (in a good way).

"Rox, I didn't need you to show me this, I believe you. I guess, thanks though, for the reassurance? " Axel stated, puzzled.

"It's a reminder of my sobriety. Plus, the whole dormant STI thing. I, uh just really enjoy knowing that what he did to me; that the situation that I allowed myself to get into, didn't have any lasting consequences." Roxas explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Is it odd that I wanna say I'm really proud of you?" Axel asked, which in turn made Roxas blush.

"No, it's nice to hear it, especially after recovery. It's nice to be reminded that I'm doing well." Roxas said resting his arms on the redhead's shoulders.

Axel looked at the paper again before looking up at Roxas. He folded the paper back up and handed it to him. "I was terrified of balloon animals growing up, since ya know, we're sharing deep dark secrets from our past." he offered

Stopping, a laugh erupted from Roxas' mouth, leaning forward and resting his forehead against Axel's shoulder. "That is the best thing I have heard in such a long time." Once he was done laughing, he shoved the piece of paper into his back pocket and refocused his attention on Axel, cupping his face and running a thumb over his tattoos.

Axel leaned into the touch before pulling Roxas closer and gave him a small kiss. "You wanna watch a movie? Maybe calm down a little?" he asked as he turned and pressed a kiss to Roxas' palm.

Roxas blushed and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good to me." he said before he started to move Axel's lap and snuggled into his side.

Axel grabbed the PlayStation 4 controller and turned it on. As he waited for the console to boot up, he played with Roxas' hair with his free hand. He pressed a kiss to his temple before focused on finding the right streaming app.

"So we have Netflix and Hulu. What do you want to watch?" Axel asked.

"Uh, let's go with Netflix. They have better movie choices in my opinion." Roxas answered.

Nodding, Axel chose Netflix and waited for the app to load. Once it was, they started looking through the options, trying to decide on what to watch.

"Oh Friends is good!" Roxas said as Axel passed over the summary.

Axel chuckled as he scrolled back and selected the show Roxas was so enthusiastic about.

"I'm gonna grab some more cake." Roxas decided, getting up before Axel could start the show.

He chuckled as he watched Roxas. "Would you mind getting me a piece too please?"

A "yes!" was excitedly called out and soon Roxas returned with two plates of the chocolatey goodness. He handed one to Axel before getting settling back into the couch.

Axel brought up his right leg and thanked Roxas for the plate. He picked up the controller and started the first episode.

It was halfway through the first season when Roxas paused the episode (the one with the dozen lasagnas) and ran to the bathroom.

Axel chuckled watching him before grabbing his phone out as he looked through his social media. Scrolling through tumblr, his focus wasn't there, but on the blond who had agreed to be his boyfriend earlier that evening.

He sighed, changing through his apps trying to find something to occupy his time while he waited for Roxas to return.

Roxas. His boyfriend. The guy he had been seeing for a little over two months now, who happened to throw a whole lot of baggage on to his lap, earlier that evening. Not that he was complaining. He'd rather know now, rather than farther down the line.

Running a hand through his hair, Axel sighed leaning his head against the back of the couch. All he wanted to do was make out with Roxas and maybe, just maybe do other things to him too.

A few moments passed, a couple funny cat videos liked and Roxas came walking down the hallway.

"Sorry about that. You okay? " He asked as he climbed back on the couch, wrapping his arm around Axel's waist.

"Yeah, was just bored out of my mind. I can only handle so many cat videos until my brain melts." Axel chucked, grabbing Roxas' hand and pulling him onto his lap.

"Oh. Hi." Roxas said, a lilt to his voice as he got settled in Axel's lap. He rested his hands on his boyfriend's chest, chewing his lip.

"Hey." Axel leaned up and pressed his lips against Roxas, in a soft kiss.

Sighing into his mouth, Roxas kissed back, hands snaking around Axel's neck as soft smacks filled the quiet room.

Arms wrapped around Roxas' waist as Axel deepened the kiss, tilting his head to the side and licked into Roxas' mouth.

Roxas opened his mouth a little wider, a breathy moan left the back of his throat when their tongues met and the taste of metal filled his mouth; a taste he was already absolutely in love with. His hands wandered up Axel's chest and around his neck, pulling their bodies closer.

Axel moved down his boyfriend's neck, kissing and biting random parts of his skin, never staying in one spot for too long. A hiss filled the air when he started to palm Roxas's erection through his jeans.

"If just making out has gotten you this worked up, I wonder what a blow job would do," Axel teased, nipping at Roxas's earlobe.

Roxas's breath hitched, as he started to grind his hips into Axel's hand, craving the sweet, albeit light, friction it brought.

"P-please," he begged, grinding against Axel again trying to make a point.

"Fuck, how can you be so cute and sexy at the same time? Especially when you beg like that." Axel purred, sucking on Roxas's earlobe before turning and pushing him down against the couch.

Pressing their mouths together, Axel licked into Roxas's mouth as he continued to palm him through his jeans. Axel growled as he felt Roxas's erection building and stiffening considerably. "I can't wait to see you," he murmured against Roxas's lips.

He quickly unbuttoned Roxas's blue jeans and pulled them down along with his boxers. His eyes trailed down Roxas's body, stopping at his erection and he bit his lip. He moved forward, capturing Roxas's mouth into a kiss as his hands teased over the head, fingers barely brushing against the tip.

Moving down his neck, Axel kissed and bit the skin until he found a spot that made Roxas grip the back of his neck and let out short high-pitched gasps. Axel made sure to pay extra attention on that spot, just under his jaw where it met his neck and sucked and bit until the skin there started to bruise.

Once he was satisfied with the mark he made, Axel started to trail kisses down Roxas' torso, with one hand cupping his sack, the other was gently massaging and teasing his cock, slowly moving his palm over the tip, eliciting gasps and moans from his boyfriend.

Axel kissed Roxas's thighs, licking where he kissed before giving the spot a bite, relishing in hearing Roxas's moan. He kissed up his thigh, biting in random places only to press a kiss to where skin started to bruise.

Grasping Roxas's cock, Axel licked the shaft from the base to the head, flicking the head of his tongue piercing against the slit, before taking the head into his mouth.

Roxas relaxed into the couch, pleasure rushing through his body as he felt Axel's tongue swirl around the head of his cock. He reached down and gripped Axel's hair, fighting the urge to buck up into his mouth.

Getting the hint, Axel started to bob his head slowly, pressing his tongue to the underside of Roxas's shaft, which helped him guide his mouth along Roxas's length. A groan left the blond's mouth when he ran his tongue along the crown of his head.

"Fu-ck, Axel." Roxas moaned, bucking his hips, forcing his cock further into Axel's mouth.

Axel stilled, relaxing his jaw and allowed his mouth to be fucked. He looked up at Roxas, taking in how he looked as wave after wave of pleasure washed over him. Axel gripped Roxas' hips and forced the man's ass back down against the couch, as he slid his lips back up to the cock's head, swirling and flicking his tongue into the slit again. He swallowed Roxas's cock until the head hit the back of his throat and then pulled off with a heavy breath.

Roxas whined, his own chest rising and falling with each breath he took.

"Bedroom?" Axel asked, smirking as he palmed at Roxas's erection slowly and softly. Little, soft moans left Roxas's mouth as he grabbed Axel's wrist. "Y-yes pl-ease."

Axel nodded and stood up only to be pulled down into a feverish kiss. Sloppy kisses were exchanged as Roxas's hands worked on Axel's shirt, pulling it out of the waistband of his jeans and hands slipped under to feel smooth skin.

Leaning down, Axel picked up Roxas with ease, their mouths never parting. Roxas wrapped his legs around Axel's waist as he was carried to the back bedroom. He moved down Axel's chest, unbuttoning the silky shirt as he slowly laid kisses on pale skin; appreciating its softness and loving the sound of Axel's small, gasping 'fucks' when he dug his teeth into Axel's skin. He gave a rough suck on the base of his neck where it curved into his shoulder, pressing a kiss as an apology for the hickey that was starting to form.

Once the shirt was unbuttoned enough, Roxas frantically pushed it off Axel's shoulders, pressing kisses to his neck and trailing down to his collarbone. His hands grazed over Axel's chest and pulled away when they pressed against metal bars that caused Axel to hiss in pleasure.

"Tongue piercing and nipple piercings, really?" Roxas teased, brushing over the nubs gently with his fingertips, which sent shocks of pleasure through Axel's body. Leaning down, Roxas licked at one nipple, sucking gently and grazing his teeth over it before moving to the other side and repeating the process.

Axel bit back a loud moan, his head tilting back as Roxas started kissing back up his chest to his neck, biting a sucking, leaving bruises in his wake. He kissed him back and Roxas licked at his lips, sliding his tongue into his mouth before pulling away.

"It was either that or a double apadravya." Axel said as he dropped Roxas on the bed and moving to his nightstand to find lube and condoms.

"Double apad- Oh my god." Roxas sounded horrified and Axel just chuckled as he attached their mouths again, working on pushing Roxas's dark blue ripped jeans down his hips and off his legs. Sucking on Roxas's bottom lip, he slipped his own black jeans and boxers off.

Roxas unbuttoned the rest of Axel's shirt and pushed the offensive piece of clothing off his arms. He trailed down his arms, tracing over the orange and red flames that wrapped over his shoulders. He made a mental note to ask Axel what his other tattoos were. Right now, he wanted to see what other piercings he had.

He leaned back for a moment, licking his lips as his eyes trailed down Axel's body, eyes landing on the glistening charms on his hips.

"Fuck, you have your hips pierced? God that is hot." Roxas exclaimed with surprise, his eyes fixated on the gold framed rubies that adorned his hips.

Axel chuckled, pushing his black jeans and plaid boxers down and off. Roxas's eyes followed the motion and fell onto Axel's cock. He bit his lip at the sight of red hairs and length and pre-cum pooling at the slit of his head.

"Glad you approve. Come on, get comfortable on the bed." Axel said as he climbed up, opening the bottle of lubricant and slicked his finger. Roxas shuffled backward, making room for Axel to settle in between his legs, where he then pressed a finger against Roxas's tight entrance.

Roxas gripped the sheets, bracing himself for the intrusion. One or two fingers weren't all that bad, but it had been a while since the last time he had been stretched and he knew there would be discomfort.

Once the digit had been eased in, Roxas relaxed, grabbing Axel's shoulders, bringing him into a kiss. He moaned as Axel stretched him and added another finger to the mix.

Their kissing became impatient as Roxas bucked his hips against Axel's fingers, making it harder for Axel to properly stretch him."God Axel, just fuck me already," Roxas whined.

Axel pressed his hand against Roxas's hip to calm his boyfriend's thrusts. "No can do, babe, I'd rather you be relaxed completely instead of jumping the gun and risking something getting torn." Axel pressed a kiss to Roxas's stomach as he started to ease in a third finger.

Roxas bit his lip and reached down to stroke Axel lazily, eliciting a frustrated groan from the older man.

"That's not fair, " Axel whimpered.

Roxas chuckled with triumphant glee and kept pumping Axel while he was being stretched out.

Once Axel felt that Roxas's muscles were a little more giving he ripped open a condom and slid it on his cock. He held out one to Roxas as he aligned the head of his penis against Roxas's entrance.

"Would you like a condom? I'm not sure if you mind getting messy." Axel offered.

"I don't need one, if I get my cum on me, more reason for you to lick me clean." Roxas said, his voice deep with lust.

"Fuck." Axel chuckled as he pressed into Roxas, gasping as tight warmth wrapped around his cock.

A whimper from Roxas brought Axel's attention to him and he kissed him softly, taking the hand that wasn't propping him up to rub Roxas's sides and hips. "What's wrong?" he asked, kissing Roxas's chin, jaw, and neck.

"Just uncomfortable. It's been a while." Roxas leaned his head back, giving Axel more access to his neck as he shifted. Roxas focused on his breathing, taking deep breaths and releasing them. Discomfort faded into pleasure and a groan left his throat, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He gripped Axel's bicep and nodded. "Please…" he begged.

Licking his lips, Axel pulled back slowly before pushing back in, little spurts of pleasure ran through his body. He continued to move slowly until he found a steady rhythm. "Oh fuck, Roxas, you're so tight," he breathed out, taking Roxas's hands and pressing them against the mattress. He laced their fingers as he continued to thrust into his boyfriend.

He pressed hot, wet kisses to Roxas' neck, dragging his teeth against the skin and sucking on spots that hadn't been marked already.

Moans of pleasure left Roxas's mouth, as he wrapped his legs around Axel's waist, angling Axel to thrust into him deeper. When the head of Axel's cock hit Roxas's prostate, Roxas cried out, but it was cut short as Axel sloppily kissed him.

Picking up his speed, Axel's thrusts became short and hard as he continued to thrust at that angle. As pleasure wracked through his body, Roxas could feel the familiar feeling of pleasure building up. "Fuck, Axel, 'm so close." He moaned and gripped Axel's shoulders. He bit his lip as his release built deep in the pit of his stomach.

Axel's thrusts became harder and more precise as did the hand sliding along Roxas's cock. "Come for me, baby," he husked, sucking on Roxas's earlobe.

A loud cry came from Roxas's mouth as he came, warm, sticky cum shooting onto his abdomen. Axel thrusted into him a few more times, Roxas's muscle contracting around his throbbing cock, edging on his own release. A long deep moan left Axel's mouth as his climax hit him; his hip thrusting into Roxas, as he rode out his climax.

Leaning down and pressing a kiss to Roxas's mouth, Axel pulled out, tied off the used condom, and tossed it in the trash. He grabbed a towel and some wet wipes, and helped clean Roxas off. He wiped his own hand clean before crawling onto his bed. Sighing happily, he fell back onto the bed, his body tired, yet still buzzing from his orgasm.

"Holy _fuck._" Roxas said, taking a deep breath, tossing the spoiled wipes away. Axel wrapped an arm around his waist and buried his nose into his hair.

"Mm, same." He said sleepily, pulling Roxas as close to him as he could. "It's sleepy time," he mumbled.

Roxas chuckled pressing a kiss to Axel's hand and settled into the bed, falling asleep moments later to the sound of Axel's soft breathing.


	4. Impromptu Dates

When Axel woke up the next morning, shifting around and hoping to pull a warm body close to his, he was surprised when said body was nowhere to be found. He sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes and as his senses came to life, the smell of syrup, bacon and eggs filled the air.

Axel threw the blanket off his body and searched for some clean boxers and pajama bottoms and slipped them on. He headed out into the kitchen to find Roxas busy cooking dinner.

"Wow, sex and breakfast in the morning? I may never want you to leave. Make you my husband." Axel teased causing Roxas jump, who in turn, clutched his chest and laughed.

"I would make an amazing husband, thank you." Roxas beamed, turning off the stove top and bounded over to his boyfriend and took his hand, leading him to the table.

"You went all out didn't ya?" Axel noted the syrup, Nutella and strawberries on the table.

"You made a delicious dinner last night, I just wanted to show you my appreciation." Roxas shrugged bringing over their plates. Eggs, bacon and pancakes were all piled on and Axel felt his stomach grumble once more.

"Believe me, it is much appreciated." He said grabbing the leg of Roxas' pajama bottoms and pulling him closer. Axel pulled Roxas down for a small kiss and smiled. "Thanks for breakfast."

"You're welcome." Roxas sighed kissing him back. Soft smacks filled the air as kisses were exchanged. Axel hooked his fingers into the waistband of Roxas' pajama bottoms which cause the blonde to pull away a soft chuckle leaving his mouth.

"Our breakfast is gonna get cold." He said pressing a kiss to Axel's nose.

"Can't you be my breakfast instead?" Axel whined, wrapping his arms around Roxas' waist.

Rolling his eyes Roxas laid another kiss to Axel's mouth before moving out of his arms. He pointed to Axel's plate and gave him a stern, yet playful look. "Your pancakes are gonna get soggy." he ran a hand through Axel's hair affectionately before moving away and taking a seat himself.

Axel gave him a pout before focusing on his food. He started to munch on a piece of bacon. "What are your plans for today?" He asked.

Roxas busied himself with his pancakes and looked up at Axel. "Hm? Oh, I'm gonna help Sora pack, then do laundry and work on some homework. Maybe even go to the pet store and visit some cute kitties." He shrugged. "What about yourself?"

Axel stabbed a pancake and started to cut off a piece. "I have band practice. And that's about it. My life is boring."

"If your life is boring, then what does that say about mine?" Roxas laughed.

Axel joined in his laughter which eventually lead to a comfortable silence, the only noise being the scraping of silverware on their plates.

Once he was finished with his breakfast, Roxas started to clean up, putting the condiments away where he found them and placing the dirty dishes in the sink.

"Ya know you don't have to do the dishes, I can clean up since you made breakfast." Axel said, standing behind Roxas, wrapping his arms around the blondes waist.

Shrugging, Roxas placed the clean plate on the dish rack leaned against his boyfriend. "I know, but I'm the one who made the mess." He closed his eyes and sighed happily.

"You keep this up and I will actually want to make you my housewife. I'll be so lazy and won't ever get up again." Axel joked, burying his face into Roxas' neck, placing kisses on the his skin there.

"Mmm, as nice as that sounds, I'm afraid I'd grow bored and stir crazy." Roxas murmured, leaning his head to the side, giving Axel more access to press kisses wherever he liked.

Roxas' eyes fluttered close and a gasp fell from his mouth as Axel sucked at the base of his neck.

"I marked you up pretty good last night didn't I?" Axel gently kissed a spot that was bruised before moving away.

"Yeah, at least it's in a spot that can be hidden from the wrath that is Sora and Riku." Roxas turned to face Axel.

"Unfortunately I can't say the same for you." Roxas' eyes landed on his neck which was peppered in hickies.

Axel shrugged. "If anything my friends will give me shit and start asking about you. I think I can handle them. I'm gonna hop in the shower. Wanna join me?" He held out his hand out to Roxas, who took it and nodded, bottom lip tucked under his teeth as they made their way into the bathroom.

—-

After the shower and they got dressed (with a few makeout sessions on the bed, in the closet and on the couch), Roxas and Axel said their goodbyes before Roxas returned home. Axel already missed Roxas, if he was being honest with himself.

He busied himself with cleaning the rest of the dishes he pried Roxas from earlier and set them in the dishwasher before he had to leave to get to Demyx's house for practice.

Once the dishes were piled in the dishwasher and leftovers were packed away in the fridge, Axel headed into the bedroom to make sure his hair wasn't too frazzled from the make out session he and Roxas had earlier and inspected his neck, dark bruises were peppered across the base, trailing down to his collarbones.

Chuckling, Axel needed to make sure to mention to Roxas not to leave any hickies where they were visible. Or at least where they weren't so dark he couldn't use makeup to cover it.

A scarf should be just the right remedy to cover the hickies and any attention that could be drawn to his neck.

Heading into his bedroom, he opened the group chat labeled 13 Hearts and sent a quick, "be there soon, still getting ready."

Pocketing his phone, he felt the phone buzz in succession, knowing his friends were probably giving him grief for being "fashionably late."

"If you only knew, guys, if you only knew." Axel said to himself, adjusting the scarf around his neck and trying to cover the hickies the best that he could. Once he was satisfied, he grabbed his book bag that he left on the counter and headed out to his car, locking the door behind himself.

Axel unlocked his car and climbed in and headed off to band practice.

Demyx's house was in the middle of nowhere; a nice perk for their band as there were no neighbors to complain about the noise. Why a farmhouse, he had no idea.

Finding where all the other cars were parked, Axel pulled in and parked. Grabbing his things off the passenger seat, he climbed out of the car and headed up to there door.

He rang the doorbell, repositioning the bag on his shoulder. He could hear movement and voices and the distinct sound of Marluxia saying "and he calls me fashionably late." Which made Axel chuckle in return.

Once the doorknob started to turn, he prepared himself for the onslaught of questions he was sure he was gonna receive.

"Axel!" Demyx cried when he opened the door, a huge smile on his usual beaming face. When his eyes fell upon the scarf around Axel's neck, they narrowed before brightening up. "Come on in. Took you long enough to get here."

Axel chuckled at his best friend as he walked into the house, looking at the other band members faces.

Marluxia and Xigbar were busy talking animatedly about god knows what, but Larxene, their drummer was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Larxene?" Axel questioned as he set his stuff down, turning to look at Demyx.

"Where'd ya think?" Demyx closed the door and headed into the kitchen.

"Rehab?" Axel questioned. "_Seriously Larxene? Again_?" He thought to himself.

A cheerful "yup!" echoed from Demyx and Axel visibly frowned. He knew if he ever wanted Roxas to meet his friends in the future he was gonna have to tell them that their Rock Star lifestyle needed to be private.

There was no way he was going to expose Roxas to something that could inevitably lead to relapse.

"Hey Axel, can you come help me for a moment?" Demyx asked from the kitchen, pulling Axel from his thoughts.

"Coming," Axel shoved his hands into his pockets, walking into the kitchen nonchalantly, giving Marluxia and Xigbar a shrug as he passed them.

When he reached the kitchen, Axel noticed that Zexion was in there too, arms crossed against his chest as he leaned against the counter and there was a dark look on Demyx's face.

Green eyes widened as he looked at his best friend. "Demyx, what's goi-." he was cut off by Demyx ripping the loosely tied scarf that was wrapped around Axel's neck, revealing the deep purple bruises that hid under.

"I knew it! You've been in a much better mood these past few months. Especially after last weekend. Who is he?" Demyx demanded, his voice loud and brash. his eyes narrowed as they fixated on one particular dark bruise. "Is it Saix?" He spat. "I swear to God if you're back with the no good, spineless, thinks-he's-better-than-everyone snake, I am going to kill the both of you." the venom was dropping from his voice.

Axel backed up, putting his hands up in defense, eyes wide. He could hear his other band mates murmuring and the sound of fabric against fabric as they got out of their seats to investigate the commotion in the kitchen.

Zexion had moved to grab Demyx's arm, trying to calm his lover. "Dem, you're not giving him a chance to speak." He grabbed his shoulders and held Demyx against his chest.

Demyx's shoulder relaxed a little, but his eyes were cold as they glared at Axel. They had known each other, for practically their whole lives, having grown up next to each other. Demyx and Axel became inseparable and as they grew older, the bond grew over time. When Riku and Axel became fast friends in college, Demyx welcomed him with open arms.

Demyx had been there to console Axel when Saix ended things, which he openly admitted to, he was happy about. He never liked Saix; his attitude towards Axel was a massive turn off for him and never liked how controlling he had become over his best friend. Which he gladly told Axel every chance he got. So his feelings at just the sheer thought that Axel had gotten back together with his ex, was justified.

"Roxas." Axel finally spoke, his voice barely over a whisper.

His friends whispered among themselves and Axel fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"_Hens_," Axel thought.

His friends were fucking hens, clicking away at any juicy gossip they good get their hands on.

"His name is Roxas. He's Sora's cousin." Axel repeated, reaching to grab the scarf that Zexion was holding out to him. He took it and replaced it around his neck, positioning it so it sat comfortably around his neck.

Demyx's whole demeanor changed and his shoulders slumped forward. "Sorry to freak out on you like, I just, we haven't talked in a while and the last time we didn't talk, well, things weren't going so well for you," he paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought maybe you guys got back together and you were hiding that from me."

Axel chuckled and shook his head. "I couldn't do that to you again, not after the last time he and I broke up and then got back together. I haven't even spoken to him in three years, that ship has sailed to never return." He gave Demyx an apologetic smile.

Demyx returned with his own smile before grasping into Axel's shoulders and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "So tell us, Roxas, right? Tell us about him!"

Axel looked over at Marluxia and Xigbar both who had had shit eating grins on their faces and he held back his attempt to roll his eyes. "I hate all of you," he mumbled before straightening his posture as best as he could with Demyx still holding onto him.

"Like I said, he's Sora's cousin. He's getting his degree in Zoology, loves white tigers, is super fucking cute…" was now a good time to mention the rehab thing? No. He would mention it to Demyx and Zexion after band practice, but he could wait to tell the others.

Axel shrugged as his friends stared at him.

"That's all you got? He's cute and likes white tigers?" Xigbar rolled his eyes.

"Looks like Axel is finally growing soft after all these years." Marluxia mused a smirk on his face. God what Axel would give to punch that stupid smirk off his face.

Sensing the uncomfortable tension that was starting to build between Marluxia and Axel, Zexion moved forward, his eyes turning to them. "Gentlemen, I would suggest practicing. It is why we all agreed to meet here yes? Not to drill Axel about his love life. That can wait till after practice is over." he gave everyone including Demyx a look before shooing them away with his hands.

Grumbles were made by everyone, except Demyx who was cheerfully informing them of a gig he had scheduled them and how if Larxene wasn't back from rehab by then, they'd have someone step in for her.

Practice usually lasted a few hours, the members of 13 Hearts practicing their songs and jamming away. Sometimes they would talk about new songs they were working on and other times they would just bullshit working on parts of their songs that needed the most work.

Afterwards, pretty much everyone left minus Axel who was sitting on the couch with Demyx who was curled up next to Zexion, who had one hand running through Demyx's hair and the other was holding up a book.

"Roxas is an addict. Well, recovered addict." Axel said, breaking the silence that had fallen among them.

Demyx shot up, staring at his best friend and even Zexion who wasn't interested in the mindless gossip that the two childhood friends discussed, lowered his book and looked at the red-head.

"What? What was his drug of choice?" Demyx asked, pouting when he received a soft squeeze from Zexion; a wordless reminder that he was being too invasive.

Axel sipped on his beer absent-mindedly not paying attention to what the couple was doing, his eyes fixated on the blue Sitar that stood by the Television stand. "Heroin and Cocaine." he replied after several moments passed, taking another sip of his beer.

Demyx looked at Axel before moving to look at Zexion who gave him a shrug, before moving to face Axel once more. He bit his lip, not sure what else to say to his best friend.

"Is this, is this like a deal breaker for you?" Demyx asked after several minutes had passed, trying to figure out the best way to really ask that question.

Axel looked at Demyx, his mouth forming into a content smile. It was something Demyx hadn't seen in a long time.

"No, he and I are in a relationship as of last night, it's just he is this super sweet, caring kid who got wrapped up with the wrong person. He's been clean for two years and fuck Dem, we've been dating for a few months now, but I can see this becoming something long term. I haven't wanted anything long term since Saix." Axel explained, biting his lip.

Demyx nodded and looked at Zexion who was studying Axel.

"Do you love him?" Zexion spoke. Always right to the point questions.

"I think love is a strong word for how long I've known him. Which is a little over two months now," Axel paused for a second, running his hand over his hair. "But I think I definitely could fall in love with him."

All three men were sitting quietly in their thought before Zexion spoke up.

"I can't wait to meet him."

Demyx and Axel both turned to look at the dark gray haired man whose attention was focused on the book he was reading, a small smile that was usually reserved for only Demyx when he did something endearing and the rare occasion when Zexion was happy for Axel, like he was now.

Axel licked his lips and smiled, holding his bottle out to Zexion,

"You will in due time."

—

A few days had passed since Roxas had spent the night with Axel. He missed him, despite that they were in constant contact with each other via texts.

"Hey, what time are you off work?" Roxas sent the message to Axel as he packed his books up and shoved them in his backpack.

He had taken the day of because he had a test in his advanced biology class and expected for it to take longer. So when he finished the test earlier than expected, having studied all night and knew the material fairly well, Roxas thought it was a good idea to surprise Axel to an impromptu date to ice cream.

Hearing a buzz followed by a loud ding, Roxas dug his phone out and read the message Axel had sent him.

"I just finished up with my last patient for the day and was gonna head home, everything okay?"

Roxas chuckled. He always thought it was funny when Axel went into this instant panic, thinking something was wrong.

"Nothing is wrong, out of class earlier than I expected and took the day off, wanted to see if you wanted to get ice cream with me." he sent in response.

Climbing into his car, Roxas got situated, threw his backpack into the backseat and drove off towards downtown Twilight Town. As he was looking for a place to park, he felt his heart drop into his chest when he thought he saw a head of raven black hair.

He circled around to where he had seen the person and let out a deep sigh when he saw it wasn't Vanitas. "Thank God." Roxas mumbled to himself as he found a parking place. Once he found one, he parked his car and clambered out. Shoving his phone in his pocket and locking his car, Roxas made his way to where Axel's office was at.

Once he reached the doors to his office, Roxas sent Axel letting him know he had arrived.

"Kay, be out soon." was Axel's reply.

As he waited, Roxas leaned up against the brick building and scrolled through Tumblr, liking and reblogging random pictures and posts that piqued his interest.

He looked up when he heard the door open and a grin spread across his face when Axel walked up to him.

"Hi, this is a nice surprise." Axel stated, leaning down to give him a kiss.

"Yeah, I expected my test to take longer than it did, so I figured why not go have some ice cream?" Roxas said, taking Axel's hand as they started walking down the street.

Axel chuckled and gave Roxas' hand a squeeze. "That's fair, I know a really good ice cream place just down the road. They even have sea salt ice cream." he said.

The pair walked down the street talking about how their days had been and how Roxas was gonna help Sora pack more of his things when he got home.

"Ah, I see. You didn't want to spend time with me, you just wanted to waste time so you'd have less time to help Sora!" Axel jokingly accused.

Roxas looked at him wide-eyed before playfully jabbing him in his sides, moving his hands around more, the more Axel laugh.

"Okay, mercy!" Axel cried, hunched over as he tried to regulate his breath.

"Ax. Look," Roxas pointed to the building they had stopped in front of. It was a pet store, with a bunch of puppies in the front window. On the window, there was a sign that read Res Q Paws Adoption Clinic! Come find your furry companion today!

"An adoption clinic? You wanna go check it out before we get ice cream?" Axel turned to Roxas who nodded his head. "Please?" He answered.

Axel moved to the front door and held it open for him.

Roxas grinned up at his boyfriend before bouncing into the pet store and made his way to where the cats and kittens were located. He pushed his fingers through the bars, petting at the cats and smiled as their wet noses pressed against his fingers.

He stopped at a kennel that housed a peach colored Sphinx. The cat was curled up in a blanket in the back of the kennel. It opened its eyes and looked at Roxas for a moment before closing them again slowly. "Oh hi." Roxas said looking at the paperwork that was attached to the cage. "I've been hurt before, please be gentle with me."

"Same buddy. Axel, come here." he turned to his boyfriend and waved him over, wanting to him to see the Sphinx. Axel walked over and looked at the paperwork. "You guys seem perfect for each other." he said as he watched the Sphinx start to make it's way over to them.

Roxas had left his finger out for the cat to sniff and rub his face against him. "He feels weird." he laughed, running a finger over his nose. The cat leaned into the touch and started to purr.

When Roxas moved his finger away, the Sphinx reached out with his paw to bring it back to his face. He laughed, rubbing his finger over the soft skin, cooing at the cat.

"He seems to really like you. With Sora moving out soon, you could get a cat, like I suggested.." Axel stated as he watched Roxas pet the cat.

Roxas turned and looked at Axel and shrugged his shoulders. "I've always wanted one, but Sora is allergic," he looked back at the cat.

"You do know that these cats are hypoallergenic right? Besides I worry about you being by yourself. I think having a pet to keep you company would be a good idea." Axel said, wrapping his arm around Roxas' shoulder and pressed a kiss to his temple.

Roxas smiled and leaned into the kiss before he pulled away. "I'll have to save up some before I could adopt one, plus by all the necessary equipment. Maybe my next paycheck. Hopefully this cutie won't be gone by then." he said pushing his finger through the square of the kennel once more before moving onto look at the puppies.

Axel watched him walk away before turning to the cat who was also staring at Roxas, his paw reaching out for the blond who had given him his undivided attention. Sighing, Axel pushed his own finger through the square of the kennel and gave the sphinx a soft rub on the top of his head. "You need a good home sweet boy. And that sweet boy over there," he pointed to Roxas as he spoke, "Will be the best home you'll ever have." he promised as he grabbed a card from the plastic pocket and walked to the front of the store where the adoption clinic was being held.

"Excuse me ma'am, I was curious about that Sphinx cat over there." Axel pointed to where he had just been.

The woman, turned to look at Axel, her big brown eyes following where he had pointed and nodded. "His name is Dobby. What would you like to know about him?" she asked, a friendly smile on her face.

Axel bit his lip, before handing her the card. "It says he's been hurt before?" he asked.

The woman nodded, taking the card and ran her thumb over it for a moment before turning to Axel. "When he was brought here, his back leg was broken, he was scratched up and he was seriously malnourished. We were honestly afraid he was going to lose his back leg. Thankfully the vets were able to save his leg and we were able to get him back to a healthy weight. We did have to remove his teeth, so he is on a special kind of diet. He is a little skittish, but he is super sweet and loves to be cuddled." she explained.

Licking his lips, Axel looked back at the cat, smiling when he saw that Roxas had meandered back to the kennel and was playing with the cat. He turned back to the woman and nodded. "I want to adopt him, as a gift to my boyfriend over there. I think they'd be really good for each other. Would it be possible for me to pick him up tomorrow? I want it to be a surprise." he said.

The woman looked between Axel and Roxas who was busy playing with Dobby, laughing when the cat started to lick his fingers and a smile formed on her face. "I'll get the adoption paperwork ready for you." she said standing up and grabbing a clipboard and some papers and handed it to Axel.

He quickly wrote in the information that was requested; Name, Age, address, phone number, etc. Once everything was finished he quickly signed the paperwork and handed it back to the volunteer. She read it over and nodded, going to put the application in their filing cabinet. "Adoption fee is fifty dollars." she said and Axel handed over his debit card to make the purchase.

Once everything was settled away, Axel shook the woman's hand and thanked her. He put his card away and made his way back to Roxas who was cooing at the cat. "Hey, you ready to go?" he rubbed his finger across the cat's nose.

"Yeah, it's sad. I really want to adopt him. I've already decided his name is gonna be Turkey. Dobby is cute and all, but he looks like a Turkey from behind." Roxas said, his eyes sad as he looked at the cat who was reaching out to him once again with his paw.

"I'm gonna cry, let's go." he said with a shaky breath.

Axel kept quiet and wrapped his arm around Roxas' shoulders, feeling his boyfriend's arm wrap around his waist and lean into him.

He pressed a kiss to Roxas' hair.

The pair walked out of the pet store and Axel couldn't help but smile.


	5. Welcome to the Jungle

_Roxas stared at the raven-haired man in front of him, eyes brimmed with tears. _

_"Van, please! I don't want to be with you anymore. It's been over for three years!" He cried, backing away from his ex-boyfriend, his back hitting a wall._

_Vanitas turned his amber eyes to Roxas and laughed, cold and empty._

_"Do you honestly think, that you could ever get away from me?" He sneered, grabbing Roxas by the throat._

_The blond started grabbing on the hand, fighting against his ex-boyfriend and trying his hardest to breath as Vanitas' grip tightened._

_"P-please! Van, I-I love hi-m." He stuttered out. _

_"Do you now? Do you think your new boyfriend could ever love you back? Knowing how broken you are. Tell me Rox, does he know of your drug habits?" Vanitas scoffed rolling his eyes. _

_He leaned forward, gripping Roxas' neck as hard as he could. "No one, will ever love you."_

Roxas shot up in bed, his breathing heavy and a sheen of sweat covering his body.

Staring ahead in his dark room, Roxas' breathing grew heavier as his heartbeat thumped against his chest.

His hands started to go numb and a lump grew in his chest. "Blanket," He gasped clambering out of his bed and trying to find his blanket.

His legs shook as he walked to his jacket and picked it up, searching for the piece of blanket.

It was the only thing he had left from when his mother and father were still alive. He remembered carrying it everywhere with him after they left, the soft felt being the only thing that comforted him.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, Vanitas had gotten a hold of it during a drug-induced rage and set fire to the blanket, the only piece left was the one that Roxas had.

If he really wanted to, he could make it into a tiny pillow and put it on a chain, but Roxas preferred to have the small piece of fabric on his person at all times, in easy access.

A sob ran through his chest as he breathing grew heavier and he could feel his cheeks starting to tingle. His panic attack was only growing with each passing second he couldn't find the piece of blanket.

"F-fuck!" Roxas cried out in frustration, his hands shaky as he looked for something he could focus on that would help with the panic attack that was starting build up faster, with every passing second.

He looked to his bed and spotted the white tiger plush Axel had returned to him earlier that week. He grabbed it with numb hands, barely able to feel the soft faux fur.

Laying back down, Roxas held the furry toy to his chest, trying to focus on his breathing. He leaned down and buried his face into the tiger's fur and took a deep breath, the smell of lavender and vanilla mixed with citrus.

"Deep breaths," he mumbled to himself, taking deep breaths to regulate his breathing, the smell of his boyfriend filling his senses.

Roxas' body relaxed into the bed, his face buried into the tiger, his mind focusing on how the tiger smelt and how soft the fur felt on his skin.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as his breathing slowed to a normal pace until he fell into a dreamless sleep, body and mind exhausted.

It was a few hours later when he woke up and he saw Sora laying in his bed with him, looking through his phone.

"Sora?" Roxas sat up, wiping the drool off his face. Thank God it was just his cousin and not Axel.

"I heard you whimpering and crying in your sleep. I didn't have the heart to wake you, but I wanted to make sure you were okay." Sora explained setting his phone down.

"Had a dream about Vanitas, it sent me into a panic attack," Roxas explained, as he stretched. "I'm fine now though." He hugged the tiger to his chest.

Sora nodded looking at Roxas, who met his gaze. "I promise." He said which made Sora nod his head and wordlessly.

"Hey Sora?" Roxas asked as Sora reached the doorway.

"Hm?" Sora turned to face Roxas, eyebrows furrowed.

"How did you know you loved Riku?" Roxas asked, his cheeks flushing. He felt like a stupid twelve year old with a middle school crush.

Sora turned and looked at Roxas confused before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not honestly sure. It was a few months into us dating. If I remember correctly, he and I went to a Halloween party our Senior year of high school. I wanted to dance but was too afraid of looking like a fool. Riku got up and started dancing, albet terribly, he still did it without any care in the world. He did it to show me it didn't matter what I looked like, so long as I was having fun. I think that's when I realized I loved him. Why?" he asked. Tilting his head to the side.

"A few months, huh," Roxas huffed before running a hand through his hair. "I had a dream, a nightmare really, about Vanitas and when I was trying to convince him that we weren't together anymore, that I was with Axel, I said that I loved Axel. I wasn't sure if it was just dream me or if it was real life me. I've only known him for almost, three months?. There's no way I'm already feeling that way about him."

Sora leaned up against the doorway and crossed his arms. "You were with Vanitas how long before you realized how you felt?" He asked.

"Two weeks? Plus I was in college and only eighteen." Roxas tried to justify, crossing his arms. "Besides, my therapist has explained why i was like that with him."

Sora just chuckled. "You'll know, when you know Rox. If you feel that it's too soon to say it, let him say it first. I've known Axel a long time. It's gonna take more than you saying 'I love you' to scare him away. But if you are really that scared, just wait till you're one hundred percent sure or as I said; wait until he says it first."

Roxas nodded falling back on his bed watching as Sora shuffled out of the doorway and turned down the hall.

Taking a deep breath, Roxas turned and grabbed his phone off the charger and opened up the messaging app.

"You awake?" he sent to Axel and set the phone down. It was about 4 in the morning and usually Axel stayed up pretty late into the morning if he didn't have any patients the next day.

A few minutes passed when a loud buzz filled the quiet room. Roxas excited rose out of bed before reading the message.

_Axel 3: Baaaaabe. It's 4 in the mornng, go back 2 sleep.  
Axel 3: *morning_

_Roxas: Can't, woke up to pee, now can't sleep. _

Another 3 minutes passed before he received a message.

_Axel 3: That sux._

Roxas chuckled before replying.

_Roxas: S'okay. I'll let you sleep. I'll let you sleep, see you at 10?_

_Axel 3: "Mm yes. Goodnight._

_Roxas: Good night Ax!_

Roxas sighed as he looked through his closet trying to find something comfortable to wear for his date to the Zoo. The weather had started to change and all of his hoodies were no longer suitable for the warm weather that had crept upon them.

The trip to the Zoo was going to be a special one as Roxas had spoken with his boss about feeding some of the animals. Once he was able to convince his boss, he made plans to go with Axel.

Finally settling on a black tee and a pair of khaki shorts, he quickly got changed, fixing the flyaway hairs that sprung out when he pulled the shirt over his hair. Spraying his hair down with some hairspray, Roxas gave himself a once over before finally deciding he was happy with his appearance.

Heading out of his bathroom, he grabbed his phone off his bed and sent a quick text to Axel.

"I'm ready when you are." he pocketed his phone, grabbing his converse and slipping them on. He made sure he had everything he needed; keys, wallet, chapstick, etc.

"Hey you heading out?" Sora asked as he walked into kitchen, clad in pajamas.

Roxas looked up from his phone and nodded. "Yeah, going to the Zoo with Axel. Got any plans later?" he watched his cousin start searching through the cupboards, looking for something to eat.

"Packing, going to lunch with Riku, then packing some more." Sora grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard and started pouring himself some cereal.

Roxas nodded, looking down at his phone when he felt it vibrate in his hand.

"I'm hereeee~" it read.

"Have fun packing." Roxas saluted to Sora before heading out to the front door, locking it behind him.

He spotted the purple Accent, parked behind his own car, a deep sea blue Subaru Impreza.

Climbing into the car, Roxas got settled and put on his seatbelt. "Hi." He turned to Axel and gave him a small wave.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into today." Axel leaned over armrest console to give Roxas a kiss. Returning the sentiment, Roxas grinned when they separated and settled back into the seat.

"It'll be fun." he promised.

As Axel started to drive out of the apartment duplex, Roxas hooked his phone to the Bluetooth and shuffled the playlist he made specifically for this trip.

In his peripheral, he watched as Axel looked at the song that was playing, a small smirk formed on his lips.

Roxas couldn't help but mirror it, but he rubbed his lips together to make it seem like he wasn't just watching his boyfriend.

"Teenage dream? I haven't heard that song in a while." Axel commented, turning the volume up.

"You think I'm pretty, without any makeup on…"

A huge grin spread across Roxas' face as he heard Axel sing and soon joined in, dancing as he sang.

Axel's voice cracked as he started to laugh.

They sang along to the songs that got shuffled through.

"What is this your love playlist?" Axel asked, turning down the volume as "All I am" by Jess Glynn started to play.

Roxas blushed, shrugging his shoulders. "I just chose songs that I liked." He said defensively.

Axel noted the tone in Roxas voice and reached over and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together. "I wasn't shitting on your music. It was just an observation. If it upset you, I'll be more considerate about how I ask." He said quietly.

Roxas gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"No reason to be sorry Rox." Axel returned the squeeze and let go of his boyfriend's hand so he could turn into the Zoo parking lot.

"What's the game plan?" Axel asked as he circled the parking lot for the second time, trying to find a good parking spot.

Roxas pointed at an empty parking spot that was close to the entrance. "Well, I figured we'd walk around, find all the exhibits we want to look at, have lunch, then I have a surprise for you afterwards." He unbuckled his seat belt once they were parked and got out of the car.

"A surprise huh? Do I get to know my surprise?" Axel walked around the back of his car to stand with Roxas.

Playfully rolling his eyes, Roxas took Axel's hand as they headed to the gates. "That defeats the purpose of the surprise." Grabbing out his work ID for the cashier, he slid it over.

He could feel Axel's gaze on him and he started to feel, very self-conscious about the surprise he had in store. The cashier handed them their passes. Roxas pocketed one of the passes before turning to his boyfriend, a grin on his face. "Where do you want to go first?" Roxas asked as he gave Axel his pass and headed through the second entrance gates.

Wrapping his arm around Roxas' shoulders, pulling him into his body, Axel looked at the giant map that stood in front of him. Green eyes scanned over the map, looking nothing in particular. "Big cats? Maybe I can finally make sense of why you like white tigers so much." he teased leading the way to where the map showed the big cats were located.

Roxas jabbed Axel in the side gently as the pair made their way down the trail to the big cats.

They stopped first at the lions, who were lazing about on big rocks, bellies exposed, soaking in the warmth from the Sun's rays.

"When I was younger, before my parents passed away, we had this cat, named Lottie. She would lay in these little patches of sunlight on my floor and my mom used to say Lottie was caught in a sunbeam. The first time I came to the Zoo and saw a lion lay like that, I said the same thing. It's just a warm spot and they'll move once they're warm enough, but I always imagined that my cat was stuck in that one spot and couldn't get up." Roxas chuckled.

Axel looked at Roxas, eyebrows raised. It was the first time Roxas had mentioned his parents since they had dated. He gave his boyfriend's shoulder a squeeze, not knowing what else to say.

Roxas bit his lip as he moved from Axel's side and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. He felt Axel squeeze his hand and he returned the notion, biting back a smile.

They made their way around the big cats exhibits, watching as the warmer climate cats were more active than those that were more acclimated to colder weather.

Tigers were busy playing in the makeshift river, splashing around and rolling around while the Cheetahs were chasing each and playing.

When they reached the snow leopards, Roxas was surprised to see of the cold weather cats out and about. He pointed to one with its tail in it's mouth. Axel laughed. "Why is it doing that?" he asked watching the snow leopard as it walked around with it's tail.

"Ya know, we don't really know. Scientists believe it's to keep their warmth closer to their bodies, some believe it's just something they do when they're bored." Roxas shrugged as he leaned against the wood fence.

"Do you work in this exhibit?" Axel asked mimicking Roxas' pose and watched as one of the bigger snow leopards started to stalk the one holding its tail.

Roxas shook his head. "I started here, but I'm in the smaller animal area. Like the red pandas and fennec foxes." he said pushing himself off the fence turning to Axel. "Where to next?" he asked grabbing the map from his back pocket.

"Can we actually look at the red pandas?" Axel asked.

A little surprised, Roxas nodded. "Yeah, follow me." he said as he headed down the path, making his way to the red panda exhibit.

The red panda exhibit was tucked away behind a glass wall that had rock borders and bamboo trees that mimicked the red panda's' natural habitat. A group of huge trees stood in front of a rock face, meant to look like mountains.

Axel's face lit up when he spotted a red panda lazing about on one of the thicker branches, munching on a stick of bamboo. "Roxas look. Oh my God, they're so cute." he gushed taking his phone taking photos the red pandas that he could find.

He made his way farther down the path and started taking more pictures.

Roxas watched as Axel lowered his phone, reading the signs, his face lighting up as he read the facts that were placed there. Taking his own phone, he took a photo of Axel, grinning. He slowly made his way over to Axel who was starting to look for more red pandas.

"So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask if red pandas are your favorite animal?" Roxas asked leaning up against the glass barrier.

Axel chuckled with a playful shrug. "Yeah, something like that." he said pocketing his phone. "When I was younger, in the town I grew up in, they had this giant Red panda sanctuary. My parents donated to it every year for my birthday because it's all I ever talked about; it was a dream come true." He explained.

Roxas leaned up against Axel, listening to his story. "Have you been there since you moved?" He looked up at his boyfriend.

Axel shook his head, his eyes fixated on the red pandas. "No, my ex and I were always too busy to make the two hour drive to Radiant Garden. Even after we broke up, being a physical therapist takes up a lot of my time. Maybe when I visit my family for Thanksgiving, I'll make a trip there. Walk down memory lane, if you will." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around Roxas.

"I'll miss you." Roxas replied sadly, watching as one red panda scared the other and they started to tumble around.

"Miss me?" Axel questioned.

"I mean, I assume you'll be going by yourself?" Roxas looked up at Axel, who shook his head.

"Nah, my brother has been telling my parents about you, so they're looking forward to meet you, " Axel leaned down and rested his chin on Roxas' head. "That is if you'd like to come with me."

"Of course," Roxas replied with a bright smile.

After the red pandas exhibit, Roxas and Axel made their way around the Zoo stopping at different exhibits that peaked their interests before deciding to find someplace to eat.

Settling on the Rainforest Cafe, they were settled at one of the corner booth, which gave them some privacy, Roxas grabbed out his wallet and slid the pass to Axel.

Axel raised an eyebrow at him before grabbing it and looked at it. "A guest pass?" he looked up at Roxas.

"I asked my boss if I could take you into the room behind the exhibits so I can show you what I do. It's why I asked if red panda's were your favorite animal because we're going to hang out with a couple." he said biting his lip.

Axel leaned back against the seat, stretching his legs and looked at the guest pass. "Seriously Roxas, this is amazing, I can't wait!" he said pocketing the pass.

Roxas grinned as the waitress came over and took their drink orders; Axel ordered a Pepsi, while Roxas ordered a Root Beer.

It was quiet other than the murmur of other patrons at the restaurant as they looked through their menus. Roxas wasn't really all that hungry so he settled on a chicken salad. Axel chose a bacon cheeseburger with fries.

"I went to adopt that Sphynx from that adoption center, but it looks like someone else beat me to it." Roxas said as he fiddled with the straw wrapper.

"Oh?" Axel asked as the waitress placed their drinks in front of them. He hoped the lady whom he had spoke with hadn't told Roxas that Axel had adopted him.

"Yeah, I guess someone came in and adopted him for their significant other. I hope whoever they are takes good care of him. He was so sweet. I was gonna name him Turkey." Roxas pouted as he picked up his drink and took a sip.

Axel gave him a sympathetic smile as he tried to ignore the excitement that rushed through his body, knowing the cat was probably sleeping on his bed. Reaching over the table, he took Roxas' hand and tangled their fingers together, running his thumb over the skin of his hand, in a soothing notion. "I'm sorry babe, I promise another sweet cat will come around." he promised, kissing Roxas' fingers.

Roxas blushed, covering his face with his menu. "Stop it." he said with a shy laugh.

Axel pulled his hand up and pressed another kiss along his fingers, making the blush on Roxas' cheek turn to a scarlet color.

Their waitress returned to take their orders and once she had what they wanted, she walked away.

Roxas sipped on his root beer studying Axel. "So when is your bands next gig?" He asked taking to folding his straw wrapper.

"Hm? Oh, we're performing at that one Goth Bar, what is called? The Pumpkin Head? Yeah, we're performing there. Marluxia knows the owner and they always request that we perform there at least once a month." Axel explained as he looked through the dessert menu.

"Nice." Roxas said softly as he pushed away the anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach. Vanitas used to frequent that bar and if he wanted to keep his state of mind at peace, he would have to skip out on attending this gig.

Axel noticed Roxas' reluctancy but decided against asking him. "I'll get you a copy of our schedule so you can attend one of our other shows." He promised.

They discussed upcoming shows and the out of town physical therapy session he had planned in a month.

"When I'm there I'll ask her if I can bring you next time. She's super sweet and loves having company. She has improved so much since I first started working with her too." Axel explained as he doodles on the paper placemat in front of him.

"I'm excited to meet her. She sounds great. You said her name was Xion?" Roxas asked, doodling on his own paper placemat.

Children, the both of them.

Axel hummed in response as the waitress stopped by and placed their meals on the table and whisked away their glasses so she could provide them with refills.

They both thanked the waitress, before they started to eat. In between bites, playful banter and light conversation was had; mainly about visiting the red pandas.

Once they were both finished; Axel had requested a box for the remainder of his burger, Roxas paid for their meal after much argument from Axel and they made their way back to the Zoo.

"It's right through here." Roxas said sliding his badge through the scanner.

"Make sure to make your pass visible." He turned to Axel and noticed the pass was clipped to his shirt.

Axel raised an eyebrow with a smirk playing on his face. Roxas sighed, giving him an apologetic smile before leading the way. He waved to his co-workers as they passed and lead Axel into the room where they were housing the baby red pandas.

There were three of them and they were all chasing each other and playing.

"They're about 4 months old. We usually wait until they're 6 months old to let them out into the exhibit. We feed them twice a day; once in the morning and once at night. I get to feed them in the morning which is a fun experience," Roxas pointed to a little hand sanitizer dispenser. "We sanitize our hands before interacting since the red pandas could carry something, as can humans that can transfer over, so we like to be on the safe side."

Axel nodded pressing the dispense lever and started rubbing hand sanitizer over his hands. "I'm nervous, what if they don't like me?" He asked jokingly.

Roxas shook his head, punching in his log in code and opening the door, following Axel into the big room.

A majority of the red panda cubs were too busy chasing each other and playing to care that Axel and Roxas were in the room. There was a smaller red panda, most likely what would be considered the 'runt' came running to them, pawing at Axel's leg.

He squatted down and watched as the small red panda rolled around. "Are we allowed to touch them?" he asked looking up at Roxas.

Roxas nodded as he reached down and pet one of the red pandas that started pawing at his shoelace. "We also have apple slices for them if you wanted to hand feed them." he said sitting down on the floor and letting Flora, one of the bigger red pandas climb into his lap.

Axel nodded, as he sat down as well, letting the smallest red panda crawl into his lap and up his chest. "Oh." he laughed running a slow and gentle hand over it's fur. the fur on the top of the red panda's head was soft, but as Axel moved his hand down its back, the fur grew more course; like a horse's tail.

"Oh my God, they're even softer than I expected." he laughed some more as the red panda crawled up onto his shoulder.

Carefully grabbing the red panda, Axel set it in his lap. "Do they all have names?" he asked.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, the one I have is Flora, that one Hans," he pointed to a panda that was busy playing with a ball in the back corner. "The one you're holding is uh...Akuseru." his cheeks flushed as he ran a hand over Flora's back.

Axel looked at Roxas confused as to why he was so embarrassed. Roxas refused to meet his eyes and looked down at the red panda that was in his lap.

"Akuseru is Axel in Japanese." he whispered.

Axel's mouth dropped and before he could stop himself, he started to laugh. "Roxas, you so fucking cute." he said picking up the red panda. "Akuseru." he said another chuckle building in the back of his throat before he gently placed the red panda back on his lap.

One of the red pandas scampered across the room, scaring it's brother and they tumbled around, playing and jumping on each other. "You said something about apple slices?" he asked looking at Roxas.

"Yeah, lemme go grab them, we usually store them in here, but I think they moved them to the big fridge in the other room." Roxas got up and headed out, making sure none of the cubs tried to get out.

Axel watched over the red pandas as they chased each other around the room and played. He brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on his arms, eyes scanning the room, taking in his surroundings since he was focusing on Roxas.

Posters about red pandas and other creatures lined the wall. Most of the posters were facts about red pandas. Papers hung above the desk in the corner that recorded the feeding schedule as well as other important things like vet visits and who was watching the cubs during the week.

Flora came bounding over to Axel, standing on her hind legs and pawing at his arm. He reached over and scratched behind her ear and chuckled. "Hi." he said grabbing the ball she started to eye and rolled it across the room. The red panda chased after it, flipping over once she got it.

"Hey, got the apples." Roxas said as he walked into the room and held the bowl out for Axel.

Grabbing a few slices, Axel chuckled as the red panda cubs came galloping to him all excited to see that he had apple slices.

"So I just give them the apple slices whole, or do I snap them in half?" he asked looking up at Roxas. "They can have them whole, I made sure to slice them so they weren't too thick." Roxas leaned down and picked up Akuseru and handed him a slice.

Axel nodded holding out apple slices to the remaining two cubs. He watched as the cubs munched on their treats and felt Roxas sit next to him, the bowl of apples in his hands. Setting it on his lap Roxas leaned over and rested his head on Axel's shoulders.

"This is the best date I have been on in a long time. Seriously, I could die happy right now." Axel rested his head against the top of Roxas' head as he reached over and grabbed some more apple slices.

Roxas chuckled and pressed a kiss to Axel's cheek. "No dying, I've grown to kind of like you." he handed an apple slice to Hans.

Once the apple slices were gone and the red panda cups had curled up in a pile to take a nap, Axel stood up and helped Roxas up to his feet. "You ready to head out?" he asked dusting his clothes off, making sure there were no remaining red panda fur.

"Yeah." Roxas grabbed the bowl with hand and grabbed Axel's hand in the other and lead them out of the room.

Once everything was put back in its place, they headed back to Axel's Hyundai Accent and started on the journey home.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Axel asked as he drove them to Roxas' apartment, music playing at a low volume.

Roxas was looking out the window, watching the scenery go by. "Studying. Finals is in two weeks and even though I've done well in my classes, I'm still nervous. These are the last finals I will ever have to take. My dream is on the line, ya know? Man. I'm so scared that I'm gonna fail." He sighed.

Axel reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. "You're going to do fine. You're gonna go into that test and its gonna be like second nature. I have no doubt in my mind." He brought Roxas' hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to his knuckles before resting their hands on his thigh. The nervousness didn't wash away completely, but Roxas did feel more reassured than before.

A comfortable silence fell over them as they drove back to Roxas' apartment with the only sound being the hushed acoustics of their radio.

"Seriously Roxas, this was amazing, I really enjoyed myself. I don't think I can explain how amazing today has been. Seeing red pandas, no, getting to hold and feed apples to red pandas has been the best date I've ever had. I can't even begin to thank you." Axel leaned down, capturing Roxas' lips in a kiss, grinning wide when he pulled away.

Roxas licked his lips before speaking. "I'm glad I could do this for you. We should do this again. There's an aquarium just outside of Sunset Terrace. It's beautiful and you can touch a sea cucumber!"

Axel suppressed a laugh and nodded. "Sounds like a date."

Pulling up behind Roxas' car, Axel put his own car into park and they both climbed out, doors shut behind them.

Leaning up against the car, Roxas grinned as he wrapped his arms around Axel's waist and rested his cheek against his boyfriend's chest. His heart started to race and he swore he felt warmer than usual when Axel pressed a kiss to his hair, but in a good way.

No, this feeling was different, it made him feel like he was alive for the first time in a long time.


End file.
